The Zakim Bridge

Over the Charles River

                   
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Big Dig -Charles River Bridge Home Page

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HNTB- Charles River Bridge page

Project Updates:

Zakim Bridge draws 800,000 walkers Oct 7, 2002

Officals Proud of Zakim Bridge Oct 2, 2002

Final Piece Placed in Zakim Bridge March 5, 2002

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Designed by HNTB, the Lenny Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, over the Charles River, in Boston is an unusual structure.  The 185 ft. width of this bridge makes it the widest of its kind in the world.  The two bridge cable-stayed project is priced at $100 million.  The service load and dynamic forces are complicated by the asymmetric, and unusual cable stay geometry.   

This bridge is part of the "BIG DIG" in Boston, Massachusetts.  It is regarded as the the largest, most complex and technologically challenging highway project in American history.

This bridge will be the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world at ten lanes wide.  It is replacing the upper and lower decks of I-93.  With twin spires that echo the Bunker Hill Monument this bridge will be a landmark for Boston. 

The Lenny Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge dedication is scheduled for October 4, 2002. 

PROJECT UPDATE

as of 10-7-2002
as reported by Robin Washington of the Boston Herald

On the final day of a weekend of dedication festivities, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge played host to nearly a million well-wishers yesterday - the largest public display of affection so far for the crown jewel of the Big Dig.

The bridge's twin towers - the south one reaching 295 feet, the north 330 - mirror Charlestown's Bunker Hill Monument.

as of 3-5-2002

The focal point of Boston's Big Dig project reached a project milestone Tuesday, when the last segment was fitted on the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.  

After 4 years of steady construction, the final piece of the $100 million bridge was fitted into place.  This will be the widest cable-staid bridge in the world, with 10 lanes & 1,500-foot in length.

as of 4-13-2001

The 3-foot-high cap was set on the peak of the northern bridge tower. Two towers, each in the shape of an inverted Y, support the wide expanse of traffic lanes with a series of steel cables wrapped in white polyethylene tubes. That is the high point for the bridge and the Big Dig project.  The deck of the Charles River span,  will be complete after a final 10-foot center section is installed next week.