The Charles River Bridge, referred to by the MBTA as Draw One, is a pair of railroad single-leaf, through-truss, rolling

bascule bridges A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

across the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, that connects

North Station North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtr ...

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

lines serving areas to the north.

History

Although rail bridges across the Charles River near the present location of North Station have existed since the

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

opened in 1835, the current bridges date from 1931, when the navigable channel of the Charles River was shifted 300 feet to the north of its former route to allow the platforms at North Station to be extended northwards. These bridges were designed by Keller & Harrington of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company of

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek an ...

. Each bridge uses a over-head concrete counterweight. Originally, there were four bridges, but only two of them remain. The bridges were formerly connected to North Station by a wooden trestle; the trestle burned in January 1984, forcing all trains to terminate at a temporary station north of the river for 15 months. The two aging two-track draw spans are planned to be replaced by three new two-track spans, which will be more reliable and have higher capacity. The unfinished sixth platform at North Station will be completed to serve long out-of-service tracks 11 and 12, the Fitchburg mainline will be slightly relocated to provide more layover space near the maintenance facility, and FX interlocking will be reconfigured. The signals contract associated with the new drawbridges was awarded in May 2019. , signal work is expected to be completed in August 2023. Design of the new vertical lift bridges began in 2019 and was 75% complete by May 2023, with design completion expected in 2024. In September 2024, the MBTA was awarded a $472 million federal grant for the bridge replacement. The draft environmental assessment was released in December 2024, with bridge construction expected to last from 2026 to 2034. The MBTA began procurement of a design-build contractor in early 2025. Award of the approximately-$1-billion contract is expected by December 2025.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail Transportation in Cambridge, Massachusetts Railroad bridges in Massachusetts Truss bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bridges in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bridges over the Charles River Steel bridges in the United States Bascule bridges in the United States

History

See also

References

External links