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Congress Street Bridge

Suffolk County, Massachusetts
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Photos 

General View Looking Northeast, Showing Bascule Bridge With Stone Piers. Draw Span At Center Of Bridge Is Visible On Right. Metal Structure Above Bridge On Right Contains Counter Weight

Photo taken for the Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

Map 

Street View 

Description 

The Congress Street Bridge, built in 1930, is a trunnion bascule bridge and the most recent of the five movable-truss bridges spanning the Fort Point Channel. It replaced a steam operated swing draw and was electrically operated. / The Congress Street Bascule Bridge is one of the few surviving electrically-operated Strauss overhead-counterweight bascule drawbridges with a Warren-with-verticals pony truss. The masonry piers are carried above deck level and are topped with ornamental lanterns which give the bridge a unique architectural character. Despite the loss of some of its operating equipment and deterioration of auxiliary structures (fenders), many original components (superstructure, lighting, gates, and operating machinery) remain. The Tender's House is incorporated within the Boston Tea Party Ship Museum, a prominent feature adjacent to the existing structure. The bridge is located in the proposed Fort Point Channel Historic District, which includes five surviving movable bridges.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Bascule bridge over Fort Point Channel on Congress Street in Boston
Location
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1930; rehabilitated 2008
Design
Bascule Warren pony truss (non-functional with overhead counterweight removed)
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 93.8 ft.
Total length: 546.9 ft.
Deck width: 40.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 25.5 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.35186, -71.05117   (decimal degrees)
42°21'07" N, 71°03'04" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/331062/4690881 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Boston South
Inventory numbers
MA B16032 (Massachusetts bridge number)
BH 19450 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (3,817)
Bascule (559)
Boston, Massachusetts (30)
Built 1850 (52)
Built during 1850s (205)
Have street view (9,883)
Massachusetts (431)
Movable (1,355)
NR-eligible (3,749)
Navigable waterway (1,448)
 Open (28,299)
Owned by city (3,048)
Pony truss (13,215)
Span length 75-100 feet (4,718)
Suffolk County, Massachusetts (39)
Total length 500-1000 feet (1,803)
Truss (23,562)
Warren pony truss (1,987)
Warren truss (3,956)

Update Log 

  • March 19, 2012: New Street View added by James Baughn

Sources 

  • HAER MA-38 - Congress Street Bascule Bridge, Spanning Fort Point Channel at Congress Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA
  • Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth

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