The Tobin Memorial Bridge connects the Charlestown section of Boston with Chelsea. The bridge provides three travel lanes northbound on its lower level and three lanes southbound on the upper level. Tolls are collected from southbound cars only. If you were handed a Tobin toll violation for non payment of toll, please read this information.

BOSTON (Friday, March 15, 2013) – Today, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced that motorists should soon anticipate the resumption of work on the Tobin Bridge.

The three-year project, which began last spring, is a steel preservation and painting job to rehabilitate the structure that has been carrying traffic over the Mystic River since 1950.

Beginning next week, the contractor will begin to deploy a combination of both day and night time lane closures to install platforms along the bridge. Permanent lane restrictions will begin the week of April 8.

The current schedule of work over the next month is listed below and is subject to change because of weather. Motorists should expect this setup to remain in place until November of 2013. The third and final year of work will begin in the spring of 2014.

Week of March 25 & April 1

Week of April 8

•  The contractor will begin to set up barrels to get motorists accustomed to the lane restrictions that will reduce the roadway from three lanes to two
• The restriction will allow the contractor to complete the installation of rigging and shielding

Week of April 15

•  The contractor will begin installing barriers along both sides of the bridge and install side shielding around the two travel lanes to provide additional safety for the public
•  Work to install the shielding will continue. Shielding will be installed throughout the length of the project to limit any possible inconvenience to the public
• The contractor will begin setting up a fully encapsulating containment system inside the existing shielding providing redundancy to ensure none of the removed paint escapes

Week of April 22

• Once the containment has been fully installed, tested and approved, the contractor may begin sandblasting off the existing paint, repairing necessary steel bridge appurtenances, and painting.

MassDOT has scheduled a public meeting for April 8 at 6 p.m. at Chelsea City Hall located at 500 Broadway in Chelsea (http://goo.gl/maps/xpQQF) to discus the spring 2013 schedule in further detail. The work is anticipated to be completed in the Fall of 2014.

The Tobin Memorial Bridge was erected in 1948-49 and opened to traffic in 1950. It connects the Charlestown section of Boston with Chelsea. The bridge provides three travel lanes northbound on its lower level and three lanes southbound on the upper level. The 36-foot-wide roadway is bounded on both sides by safety walks (2'7" wide) with steel-pipe railings on each side.

The main structure over the Mystic River is a three-span, cantilevered truss 1,525' in length. Its center span is 800' and the maximum truss height is 115'. It provides a navigable waterway opening 700' wide by 135' high. A smaller, simply supported warren truss spans the Little Mystic. It reaches a maximum truss height of 65' and is 439' long. Its navigable waterway opening measures 340' wide by 100' high.

The approaches comprise 36 spans on the north and 32 spans on the south. These spans are built-up plate girders of variable lengths (average length is 100'). On the twelve-span toll plaza--set between the Little and Big Mystic trusses--the roadway widens to102 feet to accommodate seven collection lanes.

Recently rehabilitated, the toll plaza sits on the upper level and incorporates such features as a walkway across its top (for electrical maintenance), new heated and air-conditioned booths, an overhead electronic message board and a fire-suppression system.

A maintenance garage, located in Chelsea, houses all maintenance, operating, and mechanical equipment for upkeep of the bridge. Including north and south approaches, the bridge is approximately 2 1/4 miles long.

Tobin by the Numbers