The Maurice J Tobin Memorial Bridge

Also known as the Mystic River Bridge, It was erected in 1948-49 and opened to traffic in 1950. It connects the Charlestown section of Boston with Chelsea. The bridge provides three travel lanes northbound on its lower level and three lanes southbound on the upper level. Tolls are collected from southbound cars only. The 36-foot-wide roadway is bounded on both sides by safety walks (2'7" wide) with steel-pipe railings on each side.

The main structure over the Mystic River is a three-span, cantilevered truss 1,525' in length. Its center span is 800' and the maximum truss height is 115'. It provides a navigable waterway opening 700' wide by 135' high. A smaller, simply supported warren truss spans the Little Mystic. It reaches a maximum truss height of 65' and is 439' long. Its navigable waterway opening measures 340' wide by 100' high.

The approaches comprise 36 spans on the north and 32 spans on the south. These spans are built-up plate girders of variable lengths (average length is 100'). On the twelve-span toll plaza—set between the Little and Big Mystic trusses—the roadway widens to 102 feet to accommodate seven collection lanes.

Including north and south approaches, the bridge is approximately 2 1/4 miles long.

Street Map

Tobin Bridge, Sept 2001

The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge (formerly and still sometimes referred to as the Mystic River Bridge or less often the Mystic/Tobin bridge) is a cantilever truss bridge that spans more than two miles from Charlestown to Chelsea over the Mystic River in Massachusetts. The bridge is the largest in New England. (continued below)

Photo 60, July 2001

Tobin Bridge

It is operated by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and carries U.S. Route 1. It was erected between 1948 and 1950 and opened to traffic on February 2, 1950, replacing the former Chelsea Street Bridge. The 36-foot wide roadway has three lanes of traffic on each of the two levels with Northbound traffic on the lower level and Southbound traffic on the upper level.

The bridge is a three-span cantilevered truss bridge at 1,525 ft (465 m) in total length. The center span is longest at 800 ft and the maximum truss height is 115 ft. There are 36 approach spans to the North and 32 to the South. The roadway is seven lanes wide between the shortest (439 ft) span and the center to accommodate a toll plaza on the Southbound deck only. The Northbound toll plaza was closed in the 1980s.

Photo 72a, July 2009

Tobin Bridge

Photo 172, July 2009

Tobin Bridge

Photo 204, July 2009