The Alliance Joins the Longfellow Bridge Task Force

The Boston Preservation Alliance’s Executive Director, Sarah Kelly, has joined the Longfellow Bridge Task Force to provide input into the design for the rehabilitation and restoration of the Longfellow Bridge. The project aims to repair the century-old structure to ensure the continued safety of travelers by subway, car, bicycle, and foot and to restore and protect its historic integrity. The Task Force has been convened by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and is part of the state’s Accelerated Bridge Program (ABP). To meet the cutoff dates related to receiving legislative funding for the ABP, MassDOT will present an Environmental Assessment to the Federal Highway Administration in the fall of 2010.

The Longfellow Bridge, originally named the New Cambridge Bridge, was built between 1900 and 1907, according to the design of Edmund Wheelwright. It was lauded as a feat of civil engineering and served as an architectural model for other twentieth century Boston bridges that followed. The bridge spans 2,135 feet and is 105 feet wide, with a granite block masonry substructure, ten hollow piers, and two hollow abutments. The two central piers are decorated with two pairs of neoclassically-dressed granite towers that give the bridge its “Salt and Pepper Shaker Bridge” nickname. The new bridge was renamed in 1927 to commemorate the famous local poet who often used the West Boston Bridge to travel to and from Boston. The Longfellow Bridge’s history as a route of transportation connecting Boston and Cambridge, and its location on the site of another earlier bridge, as well as its significant architectural and engineering achievements make it deserving of immediate rehabilitation and restoration.