Harvard Bridge

Harvard Bridge
Harvard Bridge crossing the frozen Charles River from Cambridge to Boston, Massachusetts
Carries	Route 2A
Crosses	Charles River
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Maintained by	Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
ID number	B160124EYDOTNBI
Design	haunched girder bridge
Material	steel
Total length	659.82 meters (2,164.8 ft)[1] (roadway) 364.4 smoots ± one ear (620 m) (sidewalk from Storrow Drive to Cambridge only)
Width	21.13 meters (69.3 ft) (total width)[1] 15.8 meters (52 ft) (roadway)[2]
Load limit	78.4 metric tons (86.4 short tons)[2]
Clearance below	3.7 meters (12 ft)[2]
Construction begin	1887
Construction end	1891
Opened	1891-09-01,[3] 1990
Daily traffic	49,000 as of 2005[2]
Closed	1983
Coordinates	42°21′16″N 71°05′29″W / 42.35457°N 71.09132°W / 42.35457; -71.09132Coordinates: 42°21′16″N 71°05′29″W / 42.35457°N 71.09132°W / 42.35457; -71.09132

The Harvard Bridge (also known locally as the MIT bridge or the "Mass Ave" bridge) carries Massachusetts Avenue (Route 2A) from Back Bay, Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the longest bridge over the Charles River.^[4]

Named for the Reverend John Harvard,^[5] it was originally built between 1887 and 1891 with a swing span.^[6] The bridge was revised over the years until its superstructure was completely replaced in the late 1980s. It is locally known for being measured in the idiosyncratic unit called the smoot.

Conception

In 1874, the Massachusetts Legislature passed two acts, Chapters 175 and 314 to authorize the construction of a bridge between Boston and Cambridge.^[7] Nothing further happened until 1882, when a follow-up act (Chapter 155) with more specifics was enacted. The location was expressed as

Acts of 1882, Chapter 155, Section 1: The cities of Boston and Cambridge are authorized to construct a bridge and avenue across Charles river, from a point on Beacon street, in Boston, to a point in Cambridge, west of the westerly line of the Boston and Albany railroad. ... to the limitation that the line thereof shall not be north-east of a line drawn from the junction of Beacon street and West Chester park, in Boston, to the junction of the harbor line with Front Street, extended, in Cambridge, nor south-west of a line drawn from the junction of Beacon street, Brookline avenue and Brighton avenue, in Boston, to the junction of the Boston and Albany railroad with Putnam avenue, extended, in Cambridge.

^[8]

The bridge was to have a draw with an opening of at least 38 feet (12 m).^[8] Unfortunately, Boston did not like this act, mainly because it did not provide for an overhead crossing of the Grand Junction Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad. So nothing happened until the act was amended by Acts of 1885, Chapter 129, which changed the draw to a clear opening of at least 36 feet (11 m) and no more, until the other bridges below the proposed location were required to have a larger opening.^[9] Still nothing happened, until the City of Cambridge petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature in 1887 to compel Boston to proceed. This resulted in Acts of 1887, Chapter 282, which was mandatory for both cities. It required that each city pay for half the bridge, and allowed Boston to raise up to US$250,000 (US$6,090,000 with inflation^[10]) for this purpose, in excess of its debt limit. This implied an estimated cost of US$500,000 (US$12,200,000 with inflation^[10]) for the bridge.

The act authorized a commission to build the bridge. The commission was to consist of the mayors of Boston and Cambridge plus one additional person to be appointed by the mayors. If the mayors failed to appoint a third commissioner, the governor was to do it for them.^[11] The mayors of Boston and Cambridge, Hugh O'Brien and William E. Russell, appointed Leander Greeley of Cambridge as the third commissioner.^[12] This changed over time.^[13]

Year(s)	Mayor of Boston	Mayor of Cambridge	Third Commissioner
1887–1888	Hugh O'Brien	William E. Russell	Leander Greeley
1889–1890	Thomas N. Hart	Henry H. Gilmore
1891	Nathan Matthews, Jr.	Alpheus B. Alger	Leander Greeley (died 15 February 1891) George W. Gale

The bridge opened on 1 September 1891.^[3] The original cost of construction to 1 March 1892 was US$510,642.86.^[14] This is equivalent to US$12,440,000 with inflation.^[10]

The expectations of having built the bridge were clear.^[15]

The effect that the bridge will have upon both cities is obvious. The low land and marshes on the Cambridge side, formerly almost valueless, have been filled in and have become valuable; and Cambridge is now connected with the choicest residential portions of Boston. The residents of the Back Bay, South End, Roxbury, and other southern sections of Boston are now connected directly, by way of West Chester park and the bridge, with Cambridge, Belmont, Arlington, and adjacent towns; and this thoroughfare in Boston, it is believed, will ultimately be the central one of the city.

Engineering

In the Act of 1887, the bridge was to be a wooden pile structure with stone pavement for the first 200 feet (61 m) because the Charles River Embankment extension was expected to take that space, but that was changed such that the whole distance would be of iron spans on stone piers. The general plans were approved on 14 July 1887.^[16] The engineers were William Jackson (Boston City Engineer), John E. Cheney (assistant Boston City Engineer), Samuel E. Tinkham (assistant engineer), and Nathan S. Brock (assistant engineer at bridge).^[17]

The subsurface conditions at the bridge location are extreme. Much of Boston is underlain with clay, but the situation at the bridge is exacerbated by a fault which roughly follows the path of the Charles River itself. From a depth of approximately 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 m) below existing ground, is a very dense till composed of gravel and boulders with a silt-clay matrix. Above that to approximately 30 feet (9 m) below the surface is Boston blue clay (BBC). Over this are thin layers of sand, gravel, and fill. The BBC is overconsolidated up to a depth of approximately 70 feet (20 m).^[18]

The substructure originally consisted of two masonry abutments and twenty-three masonry piers, as well as one pile foundation with a fender pier for the draw span. The superstructure was originally twenty-three cantilevered fixed spans and suspended spans, of plate girders with one swing span.^[19] The Boston abutment rests on vertical piles, while the Cambridge end is directly on gravel.^[18]

Postcard of Harvard Bridge looking toward Boston in 1910

Originally, the bridge was built across the Charles River connecting West Chester Park, in Boston, with Front Street, in Cambridge. This is now called Massachusetts Avenue on both sides of the river. As originally built, the total length between centers of bearings on abutments was 2,164 feet 9 inches (659.82 m) with a draw 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m) wide between centers. The width of the bridge was 69 feet 4 inches (21.13 m) except near and on the draw.^[20]

The bridge as built was composed of fixed and suspended spans roughly 75 feet (23 m) long and piers 90 feet (27 m) apart, center to center.^[21] The span lengths alternated between 75 and 105 feet (23 and 32 m). The longer spans were cantilevered, while the shorter spans were suspended between the cantilevers.^[18]

The original roadway contained two lanes for horse-drawn vehicles and two street car tracks, for a total width of 51.0 feet (15.5 m). There were also two 9-foot-2-inch (2.79 m) sidewalks.^[6] The original roadway and sidewalk stringers were of wood, with an approximately 1.25-inch (32 mm) thick covering of asphalt on the sidewalk.^[6]

The exception was at the swing span, which was 48 feet (15 m) wide. This span was approximately 149 feet (45 m) long, and sat on a wooden pier. It was a double-cantilevered, electrically-driven structure also carrying a bridge caretaker's house.^[6]

Naming

Postcard of Harvard Bridge and MIT between 1916 and 1924

The bridge was named for the Reverend John Harvard, for whom Harvard University is also named, rather than after the university itself. Other names suggested included Blaxton, Chester, Shawmut, and Longfellow.^[5] The structure now called the Longfellow Bridge opened 15 years later. John Harvard was an early donor to what later became the university; not, as is often assumed, its founder.^[22]

Possibly due to its proximity to the bridge, there have been a number of tales reported at MIT as to how the bridge came to be named "Harvard", all apocryphal. The Harvard Bridge was first constructed in 1891. MIT did not move to its current location adjacent to the bridge until 1916.^[23]

Maintenance and updates

In 1898, 3-foot (0.91 m)-wide bicycle lanes were installed next to each curb.^[6]

The bridge was declared unsafe in 1909, requiring all of the iron and steel to be replaced. The draw was elevated slightly and the trolley rails were replaced as well.^[24]

When the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) took control of the bridge in 1924, they rebuilt much of the bridge superstructure. They replaced the wooden stringers with steel "I" beams, topped wooden deck elements with concrete and brick, and replaced the street car rails.^[6] Structural steel hangers replaced wrought iron. The swing span was converted into two 75-foot (23 m) fixed spans the same width as the rest of the bridge. The wooden pier was heavily modified with concrete and stone to make it resemble the other piers, increasing the number of stone piers from 23 to 24.^[18][25]

Heavy traffic at the Mass Ave and Memorial Drive intersection on the Cambridge end of the bridge led to the construction of an underpass in 1931. The underpass eliminated the at-grade intersection.^[26]

The bridge was often known as the "Xylophone Bridge" because of the sound its wooden decking made when traffic traveled over it. This decking was replaced in 1949 with 3-inch (76 mm) concrete-filled "I-beam lok" grating topped with a 2.25-inch (57 mm) thick bituminous wearing surface. At this time, all bearings were replaced, and the trolley car tracks were removed, as were granite blocks. The trolley car poles were reused for street lights. Ramps between the bridge and the under-construction Storrow Drive were added.^[26]

The 1924 sidewalk slabs were replaced by precast, prestressed slabs in 1962.^[26]

The fifteen expansion dams were replaced or repaired in 1969.^[27]

Engineering study, 1971-1972

There was an engineering study done by the Metropolitan District Commission (later merged into the Department of Conservation and Recreation) in 1971-1972 due to complaints by bridge users of excessive vibration.^[26][28] The bridge was found to be understrength for its load. Before the final study was complete, the recommendation was to place a load limit of 8 short tons (7.3 t) per axle and a total of 15 short tons (14 t) per vehicle, or to restrict trucks to the interior lanes, where the bridge was stronger. A 25-short-ton (23 t) limit was imposed.^[29]

Suggestions made included strengthening the existing structure by adding either struts or plates to make the existing four beams along the length of the bridge into a stiffening truss, or to replace the superstructure with a new one, made of either steel or concrete, which would be up to current standards.^[28] The recommendation was to replace the superstructure with one weighing approximately the same in order to reuse the piers, which were in good condition.^[29]

The reasoning was that the cost of a new structure could be predicted much more easily than the cost of repairing and reinforcing the existing bridge. The resulting new bridge would be of known materials and quality, such as ductile structural steel rather than brittle wrought iron, and rated at AASHO HS-20. Repairing the existing structure would leave old wrought iron of uncertain quality and condition standing, and would not bring the design up to (then) current standards.^[29] Detailed engineering calculations were included.^[30] The price was estimated at 2.5 million to 3 million U.S. dollars^[29] (US$13,000,000 to US$16,000,000 with inflation^[10]).

The action taken based on this study was to establish load restrictions on the bridge, 15 short tons (14 t) in the outer lanes, 25 short tons (23 t) on the inner lanes. This was expanded in 1979 to a flat limit of 15 short tons (14 t) on the whole bridge.^[31]

Superstructure replacement, 1980s

After the failure of the Mianus River Bridge at Greenwich, Connecticut in 1983, the Harvard Bridge was shut down and inspected because it contained similar elements, specifically the suspended spans.^[32][33] Traffic was restricted to the inner two lanes due to the discovery of two failed hangers on span 14. A few days later, all trucks and buses were banned from the bridge.^[31]

In 1986, a report was published containing the plan to replace the superstructure on the existing supports. Alternatives considered were very similar to the 1972 report, and were similarly decided.^[34] Structural modifications included an upgrade from four longitudinal girders to six of the same shape, elimination of ramp "B", and replacement of a stairway with a handicapped pedestrian ramp on the Boston end of the bridge.^[35]

The historic value of the bridge was considered significant, so the plan was to make the replacement superstructure appear similar, with similar railing and lighting. In order to document the pre-existing structure, a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) would be prepared.^[36]

Ramp "B", from southbound (Boston bound) bridge lanes to eastbound Storrow Drive, caused traffic to merge onto Storrow Drive from the left (high speed) lanes using a short acceleration lane, causing safety issues. The MDC requested elimination of this ramp. Compared to overall bridge traffic of 30,000 vehicles per day, traffic on ramp B was found to be low, approximately 1,500 vehicles per day with a peak of 120 vehicles per hour.^[37]

Pier 12 was exhibiting inappropriate movement and was scheduled for reinforcement.^[38]

The work would be done in two phases. Phase 1 would reinforce the downstream side of the bridge to allow MBTA bus traffic, and was expected to take 5 months. Most of this effort would be spent on the underside of the bridge and would not affect existing traffic. Phase 2 would replace the entire superstructure and was expected to take three construction seasons to implement. Cost was estimated to be US$20M^[38] (US$40,000,000 with inflation^[10]). Phase 1 finished in 1987, and Phase 2 in 1990.^[39]

• Before-and-after images
• 

  This image shows the bridge from the upstream Cambridge side in 1985. If you click on the image, you can see construction barrels restricting traffic from the outside lanes, and how the bridge was showing wear.

• 

  This is roughly the same view, in 2009. This superstructure is in much better shape, only 20 years after completion, than the 1985 image of the superstructure roughly 40 years after its most recent major work.

• 

  Underside of the bridge in 1985. Image shows how the bridge was originally built and modified later, but before the superstructure was replaced.

• 

  Underside of the bridge in 2009. Image shows how the replacement superstructure was built, with 6 longitudinal girders and a different bracing, et cetera.

Bridge length measurement

Main article: Smoot

Smoot mark 210, east side of the bridge

The Harvard Bridge is measured, locally, in smoots.

In 1958, members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at MIT measured the bridge's eastern sidewalk by carrying or dragging the shortest pledge that year, Oliver Smoot, end over end.^[26][40]

Crossing pedestrians are informed by length markers painted at 10-smoot intervals that the bridge is 364.4 smoots long, "plus one ear". The qualifier "plus or minus" was originally intended to express measurement uncertainty,^[41] but over the years the words "or minus" have gone missing in many citations, including the markings on the bridge itself.^[42] The marks are repainted twice each year by members of the fraternity.^[26][43]

During the reconstruction in the 1980s, the smoot markings were repainted on the new deck, and the sidewalks were divided into smoot-length slabs rather than the standard six feet.^[44] The Boston police use the smoot marks as a coordinate system when reporting accidents on the bridge.

Length discrepancy

Given that Smoot was 5 feet 7 inches (1.702 m) tall in 1958, the given measurement in smoots of 364.4 yields a "bridge length" of about 620 meters (2,030 ft). Published sources^[1][20] give the length of the bridge as approximately 660 meters (2,170 ft). The difference in length between the sidewalk markings and the published figure represents a 40-meter (130 ft) discrepancy.

Houdini

According to a marker near the southeast end of the bridge, Harry Houdini performed one of his "well known escapes" from this bridge on 1 May 1908. Other sources have it as 30 April 1908.^[45]

Harry Houdini jumps from the bridge

Panoramic view from Harvard Bridge in the winter, looking east, with the Cambridge shore on the left and the Boston shore on the right. The Longfellow Bridge is in the middle, downstream.

The Harvard Bridge is decorated with both serious and comical statements of art.

See also

• List of crossings of the Charles River

Notes

a.^ See the following sections, especially #Maintenance and updates and following.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Harvard Bridge at Structurae
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Nationalbridges.com
3. ^ ^{a b} Alger and Matthews, p. 15
4. ^ List of crossings of the Charles River
5. ^ ^{a b} Alger and Matthews, p. 14
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} HAER, p. 3
7. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 5
8. ^ ^{a b} Alger and Matthews, pp. 5-6
9. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 9
10. ^ ^{a b c d e} Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
11. ^ Alger and Matthews, pp. 10-12
12. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 13
13. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 31
14. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 29
15. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 30
16. ^ Alger and Matthews, pp.13-14
17. ^ Alger and Matthews, p.32
18. ^ ^{a b c d} HAER, p.4
19. ^ Alger and Matthews, pp. 18-26
20. ^ ^{a b} Alger and Matthews, p. 17
21. ^ Alger and Matthews, p. 18
22. ^ Landmarks at Harvard
23. ^ A Walk Across the Harvard Bridge
24. ^ "Famous Harvard Bridge Unsafe" (pdf). The New York Times. 1909-07-16. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9401E7D71731E733A25755C1A9619C946897D6CF. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
25. ^ "Commonwealth Begins Work on Harvard Bridge" (pdf). The Tech (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology): p. 5, col. 4. 1924-10-03. http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_044/TECH_V044_S0154_P005.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
26. ^ ^{a b c d e f} HAER, p. 5
27. ^ HAER, p.6
28. ^ ^{a b} Leet, phase 2
29. ^ ^{a b c d} Leet, phase 3
30. ^ Leet, phase 3, appendices
31. ^ ^{a b} HAER, p.8
32. ^ Keane, Tom (2006-09-10). "It's the Engineering, Stupid". Boston Globe Magazine (Boston Globe). http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/09/10/its_the_engineering_stupid/. Retrieved 2006-09-11. 
33. ^ "AROUND THE NATION; Boston's Harvard Bridge Closed to Heavy Trucks". The New York Times. United Press International. 1983-07-06. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/06/us/around-the-nation-boston-s-harvard-bridge-closed-to-heavy-trucks.html. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
34. ^ Replacement, p.7
35. ^ Replacement, p.4
36. ^ Replacement, p.11. Note the use of the HAER document throughout this article.
37. ^ Replacement, page 4-6
38. ^ ^{a b} Replacement, page 5
39. ^ "MASS. AVE. BRIDGE TO REOPEN FOUR LANES AFTER SEVEN YEARS". Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Globe. 1990-09-12. p. 35 (METRO section). 
40. ^ This Month in MIT History, "The Tech", volume 119, number 49
41. ^ Tavernor, Robert, Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity, Yale University Press (2007), ISBN 9780300124927, Preface
42. ^ "Smoot in Stone". MIT News. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2009-06-04. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/smoot-0604.html. Retrieved 2010-07-20. "Specifically noting the bridge's length of 364.4 Smoots (+/- 1 ear), the plaque, a gift of the MIT Class of 1962, honors the prank's 50th anniversary." 
43. ^ MIT Tech Review article
44. ^ Fahrenthold, David A. (2005-12-08). "The Measure of This Man Is in the Smoot". Washington DC: The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328_pf.html. Retrieved 2009-04-20. "And then there was a little help from the government: When the bridge was renovated about 15 years ago, officials agreed to let the markings stay, even going so far as to score the sidewalk at 5-foot-7 Smoot intervals instead of the usual six-foot ones." 
45. ^ Clinger, Julia (2007-06-01). It Happened in Boston. It Happened In (1st ed.). TwoDot. pp. 61–63. ISBN 978-0762741342. http://books.google.com/books?id=zdWslQ8nn50C&printsec=frontcover#PPA61,M1. 

Bibliography

• (Nationalbridges.com): Department of Conservation and Recreation National Bridge Inventory (2006). "Place Name: Boston, Massachusetts; NBI Structure Number: 417208078401120; Facility Carried: Route 2A; Feature Intersected: Charles River". Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky). http://nationalbridges.com/index.php?option=com_lqm&0d1591eef9aa7cce82db69b58f9aa091=1&task=showResults&query=8&lqm_id=265311&&format=raw&&Itemid=2. Retrieved 2011-05-23.  Note: this is a formatted scrape of the 2009 official website, which can be found here for Massachusetts: "MA09.txt". Federal Highway Administration. 2009. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/2009/MA09.txt. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
• Alger, Alpheus B.; Matthews, Nathan Jr. (1892). Harvard Bridge: Boston to Cambridge, March 1892. Boston, Massachusetts: Rockwell and Churchill. http://books.google.com/books?id=1qQJAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 2009-04-10. 
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) (1987). Harvard Bridge, Spanning Charles River at Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Suffolk County, MA. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Department of the Interior. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ma1293. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhdatapage&fileName=ma/ma1200/ma1293/data/hhdatapage.db&title2=Harvard%20Bridge,%20Spanning%20Charles%20River%20at%20Massachusetts%20Avenue,%20Boston,%20Suffolk%20County,%20MA&recNum=0&itemLink=r?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@(ma1293)). Retrieved 2009-04-23. 
• (Replacement): United States Department of Transportation, Massachusetts Department of Public Works (1986-10-27). Harvard Bridge/Massachusetts Avenue Bridge over the Charles River, Bridge replacement project, Environmental Assessment. Washington, D.C.: The Administration. LCC TG24.M4 H376 1986  Submitted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4332 (2) (c), and 23 U.S.C. 128 (a).
• Leet, Kenneth M., PhD (1972-07-07). The Harvard Bridge, phase 2 report. Boston, Massachusetts: Metropolitan District Commission. LCC TG24.M4 H374 Ph.2. 
• Leet, Kenneth M., PhD (1972-10). The Harvard Bridge, final report phase 3. Boston, Massachusetts: Metropolitan District Commission. p. 1. LCC TG24.M4 H374 Ph.3. 

External links

• Harvard Bridge at Structurae