The Chelsea Street Bridge is a
vertical-lift bridge
A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.
The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...
that carries Chelsea Street between
East Boston, Massachusetts
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and do ...
, and
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...
, over the
Chelsea Creek
Chelsea Creek, shown on federal maps as the Chelsea River, is a waterway that runs along the shore of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and separates that community from the cities of Boston and Revere, as well as feeding part of the current Belle Isle ...
. It opened to traffic on May 12, 2012, after a $125.3M construction project replaced the previous bridge,
a single-leaf
bascule-type drawbridge.
The span is with a vertical clearance, when opened, of .
There are two lanes and a sidewalk in each direction.
Previous bridges
The current bridge is the latest in a succession of bridges at the same site going back to 1834.
The most recent predecessor was a single-leaf
bascule bridge
A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...
on which construction began in 1936 and which was opened on May 10, 1937.
Silver Line issues
The Chelsea Street Bridge is used by the MBTA
Silver Line SL3 route, which began service in April 2018. Frequent openings of the bridge — as many as ten per day — have caused numerous delays.
Ships and barges carry petroleum products to tank farms upstream from the bridge and each delivery can cause at least two bridge openings as tug boats come and go. Federal regulations give priority to marine traffic and require the bridge to be opened on demand.
See also
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References
External links
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Bridges in Boston
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Bridges in Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
Vertical lift bridges in Massachusetts
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