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Charles River Bridge Choose another wonder
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA Completion Date: 2001 Cost: $86.4 million Length: 1,457 feet Type: Suspension (cable-stayed) Purpose: Highway Materials: Steel, concrete Longest Single Span: 745 feet In September 2001, Boston, Massachusetts, will unveil its crown jewel -- the Charles River Cable-Stayed Bridge. The bridge will be the first of its kind ever built -- a "hybrid" cable-stayed bridge made of both steel and concrete. Two planes of steel cables will support the 745-foot-long, 183-foot-wide main span, and the side spans will be constructed of
The Charles River Bridge is being built within a congested transportation region in the city, an area that already houses Interstate 93 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Commuter Rail and Orange Line. In order to squeeze the bridge into such tight quarters, architects came up with a brilliant solution. They designed the bridge to be supported by two inverted Y-shaped towers. The legs of the concrete towers actually straddle the MBTA tracks at a 55-degree angle, allowing plenty of room for the Orange Line and its ventilation buildings. When completed in 2001, the bridge will carry 10 lanes of traffic: eight through the legs of the two towers and two cantilevered off the east side. Not only is this design unique, it's practical as well. The asymmetrical design gave engineers the freedom to construct such an enormous bridge within inches of a major elevated highway without interrupting the flow of traffic. Here's how this bridge stacks up against some of the longest-spanning bridges in the world. (total length, in feet)
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