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About This Project
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The Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation Project has been broken down into two phases: Early Action and Final Rehabilitation. Early Action Phase 1 construction work was completed in January of 2012.
On February 27, 2013, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board of Directors approved a construction contract for the final rehabilitation of the Longfellow Bridge, which links Boston and Cambridge. MassDOT held a community meeting to provide a project overview and introduce the Design Build team on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. To review the presentation , please visit the meeting materials and documents page.
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The Longfellow (originally, the Cambridge) Bridge is one of the most architecturally distinguished bridges in Massachusetts. Located on the site of the 1793 West Boston Bridge, this graceful steel and granite structure was completed in 1908, and renamed to honor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1927. The bridge joins Cambridge Street in Boston with Main Street in Cambridge and carries the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Red Line and two-way vehicular traffic across the Charles River. The bridge presently carries 28,000 motor vehicles, 90,000 transit users, and significant numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists each day.
The 1908 bridge was extended in 1956 and rehabilitated in 1959. The bridge today consists of eleven original open-spandrel steel arch spans plus two steel girder approach spans at the Cambridge end. The bridge has an overall length of 2,135 feet, and a deck width of 105 feet, which includes a 27-foot fenced median occupied by the Red Line. The existing cross-section provides an upstream 6-foot sidewalk and a 33-foot wide roadway while the downstream side consists of a 10-foot sidewalk and 29-foot wide roadway. The bridge's substructure is built of granite block masonry and consists of ten hollow piers and two hollow abutments. The two central piers carry the signature pairs of neoclassically inspired dressed granite towers that have given the bridge its popular nickname - the Salt and Pepper Bridge. |
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In this design, the bridge's distinctive architectural features will be preserved or restored, while the deteriorated structural elements of the bridge are carefully rehabilitated. All new elements of the work will be sensitively designed to complement the bridge's historic character and its prominent position within the historic Charles River basin.
The primary objective of the proposed rehabilitation is to address the bridge's current structural deficiencies, upgrade its structural capacity, and bring the bridge up to modern code. In particular, the structural steel elements supporting the bridge deck have deteriorated and require upgrading, and the abutments will have to be modified slightly to allow the sidewalk approaches to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility guidelines. At the same time, the bridge's ornate pedestrian railings will be restored or replicated, its masonry elements will be cleaned and conserved, and an appropriate new bridge lighting system will be designed. Areas on the riverbanks disturbed by the project will be carefully landscaped to tie the bridge into its historic setting. Updated renderings of the completed bridge rehabilitation project are available for review.
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The Longfellow Bridge carries the MBTA Red Line and thousands of vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists each day. Due to the compressed construction period and to protect the bridge’s users and construction workers, traffic will have to be shifted as work progresses.
MassDOT expects traffic detours to take place, possibly via other nearby bridges. The contractor will be required to maintain emergency, bicycle and pedestrian access and one inbound travel lane on the bridge at all times. Six traffic stages are necessary for construction.
MassDOT's contractor will begin the rehabilitation of the historic bridge in the spring/summer of 2013. To learn more, view this animation.
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Environmental and Historic Resources
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The project team will continue to review key historical, architectural and environmental aspects of the rehabilitation, including coordinating with Section 106 Consulting Parties (Massachusetts Historical Commission, Boston Landmarks Commission and Cambridge Historical Commission), the Boston and Cambridge Conservation Commissions and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).
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| Project Updates |
MassDOT is committed to public outreach throughout the duration of construction. An issues tracking system will be employed during construction to ensure that problems and concerns are addressed in a timely manner. For more information, please see Contact Us.
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