Boston University Bridge
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The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
through arch bridge A through arch bridge, also known as a through-type arch bridge, is a bridge that is made from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete, in which the base of an arch structure is below the deck but the top rises above it. It can either be lo ...
with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the
Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
, connecting the
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
campus to
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. The bridge, with the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge directly underneath it, is incorrectly rumored to be the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane. Other such places include the
Steel Bridge The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries ro ...
in
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, and the 25 de Abril Bridge in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, although both those bridges are on the same span. In this case the rail and road traffic are on separate bridges.


History

The Boston University Bridge was designed by Andrew Canzanelli and built by The Phoenix Bridge Company in 1927, replacing an 1850s
drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...
known as the
Brookline Bridge Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See a ...
. Canzanelli also designed the Weeks footbridge and the first shell constructed on the Esplanade.Alt URL
/ref> In 1949 it was renamed for
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, which lies at the southern end of the bridge, after a group of students went to the State House to propose a name change. State Senator
John E. Powers John E. Powers (November 10, 1910 – July 31, 1998) was an American politician who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1959 to 1964. Powers, a former clam digger, messenger, and machine operator, served as a State Senator ...
sponsored the legislation in May 1949; it passed unanimously. During the period of planning for the Inner Belt, the BU Bridge represented the planned crossing point of the highway from Boston to Cambridge. Several plans were discussed for the area; had the expressway been built over the river, the bridge would have been demolished and replaced with a high-level highway overpass, while if the road had been constructed as a tunnel, the bridge would have been left standing as a crossing for surface route traffic. The bridge crosses diagonally over an older, now single-tracked railroad-only bridge carrying the
Grand Junction Line Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
. This bridge, formerly owned by
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
, was purchased by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
for the
MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
in 2010. The long-postponed
Urban Ring The Urban Ring was a proposed project of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, to develop new public transportation routes that would provide improved circumferential connections amon ...
mass transit project is expected to include a bridge at or near this location to carry the planned route across the Charles River.


Rehabilitation

In 2008, the bridge deck, including the sidewalks and vehicular surface, was in severe disrepair; the water below was visible through holes in the deck, and the iron stairs leading from
Storrow Drive Storrow Drive, officially James Jackson Storrow Memorial Drive, is a major crosstown parkway in Boston, Massachusetts, running east–west along the southern bank of the Charles River. It is restricted to cars; trucks and buses are not perm ...
were rusted through. These deficiencies triggered the bridge to be categorized as "structurally deficient" under the federal NBIS standards. Nevertheless, the main structural elements of the bridge have been determined to be sound. The approximately $20 million rehabilitation project was among the first undertaken in the Commonwealth's Accelerated Bridge Program by the bridge owner, the
Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is ...
. In June 2008, one traffic lane and the west-side sidewalk was closed to begin this work. The project was done in 3 phases to keep traffic open throughout construction. On December 21, 2011, the project was substantially complete, and the bridge was opened in its final configuration, with one lane entering the bridge in each direction, transitioning on the bridge to two lanes exiting. Two 5-foot bike lines are provided alongside the sidewalks.


References


Notes


External links

* {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =
Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
, bridge = Boston University Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Grand Junction Railroad Bridge , upstream signs = ''Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority'' , downstream =
Harvard Bridge The Harvard Bridge (also known locally as the MIT Bridge, the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, and the "Mass. Ave." Bridge) is a steel haunched girder bridge carrying Massachusetts Avenue ( Route 2A) over the Charles River and connecting Back Bay, ...
, downstream signs = Bridges in Boston Bridges completed in 1928 Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bridges in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Road bridges in Massachusetts Steel bridges in the United States Truss bridges in the United States 1928 establishments in Massachusetts Bridges over the Charles River Through arch bridges in the United States Tied arch bridges in the United States