Fore River Bridge

The Fore River Bridge spans the Weymouth Fore River between Quincy and Weymouth, Massachusetts. The new bridge replaced a bascule bridge that was built in 1936. The bascule bridge was demolished in the early 2000s as it was considered structurally deficient and unsafe. MassDOT then erected a temporary vertical lift bridge rising to 200 feet (61 m), which remained in place until the new bridge was completed in 2018. The replacement Fore River vertical lift bridge has an increased vertical clearance of 60 feet (18 m) in the closed position and over 220 feet (67 m) in the open position. This will help reduce the number of openings during the busy summer months. The navigable channel horizontal clearance increased the previous width of 175 feet (53 m) to 250 feet (76 m) and can now accommodate larger marine freighters providing better access to the Fore River’s Designated Port Area. In addition, dolphins and fenders were installed to protect the new bridge structure from ship collision. The total length of the bridge including the approaches is 2,216 feet (675 m). The bridge includes a signature light gray color; a stainless steel mesh enclosure that wraps around the access stairs, elevators, and other ancillary bridge components; textured concrete; and aesthetic LED blue lighting.

New Fore River Bridge and the temporary replacement for the 1936 bridge
Postcard view of the 1936 bridge from the 1940s

Design and construction

The Fore River Bridge was built at an approximate cost of $272 million and construction lasted 6 years with final completion in 2018. Bridge Architect Miguel Rosales of Boston-based transportation architects Rosales + Partners provided the conceptual design, bridge architecture, and aesthetic lighting design. Preliminary design engineering was performed by STV. Parsons Corporation was the Engineer of Record working with design-build contractor White-Skanska-Koch Joint Venture. The bridge is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

A portion of the temporary bridge was donated for use as a short bridge over a river in Perches, Haiti.[1]

Awards

Grand Inceptor 2019 Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts[2]

See also

References
  1. Annear, Steve (August 19, 2019). "A section of the former Fore River Bridge is now serving as a new bridge in Haiti". Boston Globe.
  2. Baker, Ed (April 5, 2019). "Fore River Bridge Gets 'Grand Inceptor' Design Award". Weymouth News.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.