Rating:
2 votes

Charlestown Bridge

Suffolk County, Massachusetts
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Photos 

Below north approach

Photo taken by Nathan Morton in Aug. 09

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Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Swing through truss bridge over Charles River on N. Washington Street in Boston
Location
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Status
Open to traffic
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
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
+42.36874, -71.05982   (decimal degrees)
42°22'07" N, 71°03'35" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/330395/4692773 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Boston South
Inventory numbers
MA B16016 (Massachusetts bridge number)
BH 43283 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 08/2010)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 8.5 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
38,400

Categories 

Boston, Massachusetts (30)
Built 1900 (699)
Built during 1900s (4,247)
Charles River (16)
Have street view (9,891)
Massachusetts (433)
Movable (1,355)
NR-eligible (3,749)
Open (28,316)
Owned by city (3,051)
Pin-connected (1,521)
 Pratt through truss (3,166)
Pratt truss (5,660)
Span length 100-125 feet (3,299)
Structurally deficient (16,678)
Suffolk County, Massachusetts (39)
Swing (534)
Through truss (9,209)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,789)
Triple-barreled (2)
Truss (23,573)
William Jackson (2)

Update Log 

  • 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

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
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Comments 

Charlestown Bridge
Posted November 18, 2011, by K. A. Erickson

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=alone;showrate=1#c9

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.

Charlestown Bridge
Posted November 18, 2011, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

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-boston-november-17/#comment-4531

Charlestown Bridge
Posted March 19, 2010, by Mike Roegner (roegner [at] soltec [dot] net)

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.

Charlestown Bridge
Posted March 19, 2010, by Mike Roegner (roegner [at] soltec [dot] net)

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.