Charlestown Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Swing through truss bridge over Charles River on N. Washington Street in Boston
- Location
- Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- Status
- Open to traffic
- Future prospects
- Slated for demolition and replacement in 2017.
- History
- Built in 1900 to replace the Charles River Bridge which opened in 1786. It carried an elevated railway until it was demolished and re-routed in 1975.
- Builder
- - William Jackson
- Railroads
- - Boston Elevated Railway (BERy)
- Rapid Transit
- Design
- Swing Pratt through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 119.1 ft.
Total length: 241.2 ft.
Deck width: 65.9 ft.
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- North Washington Street Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.36895, -71.05975 (decimal degrees)
42°22'08" N, 71°03'35" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 19/330401/4692796 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Boston South
- Average daily traffic (as of 2016)
- 43,300
- Inventory numbers
- MA B16016 (Massachusetts bridge number)
BH 43283 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of August 2016)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 8.5 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- September 6, 2015: Photo imported by Dave King
- August 11, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge is now doomed.
- September 25, 2012: New photo from Jann Mayer
- March 21, 2012: Merged duplicate listing, imported photos, added categories
- March 16, 2010: Updated by Joshua Collins: added gps coordinates
- August 25, 2009: Added by Nathan Morton
Related Bridges
- Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge (Upstream)
- Warren Avenue Bridge (Upstream)
Sources
- Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Joshua Collins - Bigjc1979 [at] aol [dot] com
- Mike Roegner
- Wikipedia
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Jann Mayer - jannmayer [at] gmail [dot] com
- Douglas Butler
- Nathan Holth
- News Article On Demolition Project.
Comments
This isn't the "Charlestown High Bridge" the Charlestown Highbridge was torn down during the Big Dig and replaced by the Zakim. The Charlestown Highbridge carried Interstate 93 and US Route 1. It was also known as "Upper and Lower Deck" for those from the 1990s who used to listen to traffic reports.
Nathan, this is not the first time an alarmist Ironworker has posted images or comments on "Occupy" or "left leaning" blogs that suggest most metal bridges are deficient and need to go.
In October there were pre-renovation pictures of the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge circulated around the blogosphere sparking several "Fix it now, give us jobs" diaries.
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1029568/43719818#c9?mode=al...
The discussion on this entry found at Daily Kos with comments initiated by campionrules where the truth comes out.
We do not need misinformation accidental or deliberate.
Some ironworkers are craftsmen. Others are, politely said, somewhat less than that. One ironworker who falls into the "lesser" category has been spreading lies amongst the "Occupy" movement in Boston. According to this article, rivets were not used on bridges after 1930. His comments also imply that bridges that have rivets are dangerous and should be replaced. He is wrong. This bridge can and should be preserved. http://rebuildthedream.com/blog/2011/11/14/jobs-not-cuts-in-...
A photo of the bridge and a Boston bound el train. 1911
The S.S. John Hathorne was backing out of a grain dock in December 1945 and got caught in a tidal surge, taking a chunk out of the bridge and leaving the el unsupported. Temporary repairs were made immediately, but it took til March 1946 before everything was all back together.
Boston Elevated stock certificates had an engraving of an el train crossing the bridge.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
Here's a photo of the Charlestown High Bridge being built. I'm not sure why they called it the High Bridge - it doesn't look that high. The stone masons are hard at work, and I'm sure the river channel is down there somewhere.
Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ma/suffolk/charlestown/
NOTE: This isn't the "Charlestown High Bridge" the Charlestown Highbridge was torn down during the Big Dig and replaced by the Zakim. The Charlestown Highbridge carried Interstate 93 and US Route 1. It was also known as "Upper and Lower Deck" for those from the 1990s who used to listen to traffic reports.