Chelsea Street Bridge opens
May 15, 2012

Dating to the 1930s, the structurally deficient Chelsea
Street Bridge needed to be replaced for more than the sake
of motorists crossing the span between Chelsea and East
Boston. The narrow waterway between its piers, less than 100
feet wide, allowed only older, single-hull fuel tankers to
ply Chelsea Creek and reach nearby terminals.

The completion of the $125 million replacement bridge,
ending a year of detours for motorists, allows for 175 feet
of horizontal clearance in the channel, making room for the
double-hulled tankers outfitted with outer layers of steel
to guard against spills.



"From an environmental standpoint, that’s probably the
biggest benefit," said Frank DePaola, administrator of the
state Department of Transportation’s Highway Division, which
oversaw the project. "The fact that we can now allow modern
tankers to come in is good for us all."

A decade ago, the old bridge was targeted by state energy
regulators as a threat to the environment and the region’s
economy. In a report, regulators warned that the narrow
passage posed a high risk for accidents and presented "one
of the most serious vulnerabilities" to the state’s
petroleum supply.

Three years ago, the same bridge and its impending
reconstruction provided a backdrop for Governor Deval
Patrick to announce his Massachusetts Recovery Plan,
creating construction jobs with a blend of federal, state,
and private investment.

Monday, officials gathered again to celebrate the completion
of the bridge, the largest of its kind in the state.

Federal funds covered about 80 percent of the Chelsea Street
Bridge work, DePaola said in a phone interview after the
ceremony. The work was coordinated with Chelsea and Boston
to manage traffic detours and also timed to coincide with a
federal dredging project to improve the creek for tankers,
he said.

The old span was a traditional drawbridge, known as a
bascule bridge. The new span - 450 feet across and lined for
two lanes of traffic and a sidewalk in each direction -
operates like an elevator and rises to a height of 175 feet
above the water at low tide, DePaola said.

Chelsea Street was closed to traffic during the final year
of work to allow for demolition of the old bridge and
installation of the new span, which was constructed on a
neighboring lot and moved into place using winches, he said.

Additional nighttime traffic closures will be needed until
mid-June to allow for some finishing work, DePaola said.