Congress Street Bridge (Boston)

Congress Street Bridge
The bridge in 2012
Coordinates42°21′07″N 71°03′04″W / 42.35190°N 71.05118°W / 42.35190; -71.05118
CarriesCongress Street
CrossesFort Point Channel
LocaleBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Official nameCongress Street Bascule Bridge
OwnerCity of Boston
Maintained byBoston Public Works
Characteristics
DesignTrunnion bascule bridge
MaterialSteel, concrete, granite
Total length561 feet (171 m)
Width65 feet (20 m)
Height53 feet (16 m) (above deck)
Longest span91 feet (28 m) (bascule)
No. of spans9
Piers in water
8
6 feet (1.8 m) (closed)
unlimited (open)
No. of lanes2 (formerly 4)
History
ArchitectHenri Desmond & Israel Lord
DesignerStrauss Bascule Bridge Company
Constructed byBoston Bridge Works
Built1930 – January 1931
Replaces1874 swing bridge
Location
Interactive map of Congress Street Bridge
References
[1]

The Congress Street Bridge is a bascule bridge in Boston, Massachusetts. It carries Congress Street across the Fort Point Channel, from the city's Financial District to South Boston. The bridge is well-known to tourists due to the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum being located near the mid-point of the crossing, accessible via a sidewalk.[2]

History

Boston's Congress Street was extended across Fort Point Channel in 1874 by way of a swing bridge.[1] The fixed portion was paved with cobblestones and included shelters for waiting pedestrians.[3]: 64 

Boston mayor James Michael Curley announced a new "Bridge of Steel" for Congress Street in November 1929 and the first bridge was removed.[3]: 66  The current bascule bridge was built in 1930.[1] The patented design featured trunnions and job-creating embellishments like decorative granite piers holding giant lighting globes.[3]: 66  Engineer Joseph Strauss also architected the Golden Gate Bridge.[3]: 66  The new Congress Street Bridge was deemed complete on January 6, 1931, with a reported cost of $765,041 ($16.2 million in 2025).[1] The lifting section of the bridge has been welded shut since the 1970s.[1] A water main built above-water next to the second bridge was removed when it was renovated in the summer of 2004.[3]: 66 

Notable attractions in the area include Boston Children's Museum and the Hood Milk Bottle, located at the east end of the bridge, and the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, located near the center of the bridge. The Tea Party museum, which first opened in 1973,[4] originally occupied what had been the bridge tender's house.[5] The museum's gift shop burned in a fire on August 3, 2001,[5] which was late attributed to a lightning strike.[4] The facility remained closed, and another fire on August 27, 2007, consumed the main building.[4] That fire was accidentally ignited by sparks from welders working on the Congress Street Bridge.[4][6] A new structure was subsequently built for the Tea Party museum, which opened in June 2012.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MA-38, "Congress Street Bascule Bridge"
  2. ↑ "Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum". cntraveler.com. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Michael J. Tyrrell (2004). Boston's Fort Point District. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3533-8.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hernandez, Javier C. (August 28, 2007). "Boston Tea Party museum catches fire again". The Boston Globe. p. B2. Retrieved March 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Klein, Rick (August 5, 2001). "After blaze, gift shop is history". The Boston Globe. p. B3. Retrieved March 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Carolyn Y. (September 20, 2010). "Many visitors are anticipated for Boston Tea Party". The Boston Globe. p. B4. Retrieved March 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). bostonteapartyship.com. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
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