Everything about Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge totally explained
The
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is a
cable-stayed bridge that carries eight lanes of the
Interstate 93 and
U.S. Route 1 concurrency, plus a two lane access ramp, across the
Charles River in
Boston, Massachusetts. Finished in 2003, the bridge's unique styling quickly became an
icon for Boston, often featured in the backdrop of national news channels to establish location, and included on tourist souvenirs.
The bridge was built as part of the
Big Dig, the largest
highway construction project in the
United States. The entrance to the
Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Tunnel, another major component of the Big Dig, is at the bridge's southern end, while north of the bridge I-93 heads toward
New Hampshire and US 1 splits from the
Interstate and travels northeast toward Massachusetts'
north shore, crossing the
Mystic River via the
Tobin Bridge. The bridge replaced the
Charlestown High Bridge when it opened, and is the world's widest cable-stayed bridge.
Design
In a cable-stayed bridge, instead of hanging the roadbed from cables slung over towers, the cables run directly between the roadbed and the towers. Although cable-stayed bridges have been common in
Europe since
World War II, they're relatively new to
North America.
The bridge concept was developed by
Swiss civil engineer Christian Menn and its design was engineered by American civil engineer Ruchu Hsu with Bechtel Parson Brinckerhoff.
Boston-based architect
Miguel Rosales was the lead architect/urban designer and facilitated community participation during the design process. Neither Hsu nor Rosales served as the designer of record for the project. The engineer of record is HNTB/FIGG. The lead designer from HNTB was Theodore Zoli; and W. Denney Pate from FIGG. The bridge follows a new design in which two outer lanes are
cantilevered outside the towers while another eight lanes run through the towers. It has a striking, graceful appearance that's meant to echo the tower of the
Bunker Hill Monument, which is within view of the bridge, and the white cables evoke imagery of the sails of the
USS Constitution.
The bridge has an overall length of 436.5 m, a main span of 227.1 m, side spans of 81.4 m (downtown side) and 128.0 m (Charlestown side), and towers that are 82.3 m tall..
Name
The bridge's full name commemorates both Boston civic leader
Leonard P. Zakim, who championed "building bridges between peoples", and the
Battle of Bunker Hill. The bridge is commonly referred to as the "Zakim Bridge" by many local Boston newspapers, radio and television media, but many residents of the community of
Charlestown and other Bostonians refer to it by its full name, "The Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://zakim_bunker_hill_bridge.totallyexplained.com">Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
