Thursday, March 25, 2010

USA - Massachusetts - The Zakim Bridge


This exciting new addition to The Boston Skyline has become another important landmark to this area.

Sent by Gregory of Dorchester in Massachusetts.

This is from Wikipedia : The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. It replaced the Charlestown High Bridge when it opened, and is the world's widest cable-stayed bridge. The main portion of the Zakim Bridge carries four lanes each northbound and southbound of the Interstate 93 and U.S. Route 1 concurrency between the Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Tunnel and the elevated highway to the north. Two additional lanes are cantilevered outside the cables, which carry northbound traffic from the Sumner Tunnel and North End on-ramp. These lanes merge with the main highway north of the bridge. I-93 heads toward New Hampshire as the "Northern Expressway" and US 1 splits from the Interstate and travels northeast toward Massachusetts' north shore, crossing the Mystic River via the Tobin Bridge.

The bridge and connecting tunnel were built as part of the Big Dig, the largest highway construction project in the United States. 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 is commonly referred to as the "Zakim Bridge" and as the "Bunker Hill Bridge" by residents of nearby Charlestown.

The Leverett Circle Connector Bridge was constructed in conjunction with the Zakim Bridge, allowing some traffic to bypass it.

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