A
massive 60-foot piece of a water main weighing as much as 3 tons broke
off the condemned Long Island bridge and crashed 50 feet into Boston
Harbor, prompting commuter ferries to take a longer route and city
officials to take extra steps to shore up the crumbling structure before
its demolition begins later this month, the Herald has learned.
“That’s
the reason why we closed the bridge, because it’s structurally
unsound,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said yesterday. “I knew I did the right
thing the day I (shut it down in October). I would rather take critics
criticizing me for closing the bridge down rather than having a tragedy
happen.”
The mayor closed the 3,050-foot two-lane steel bridge Oct. 8 after reports it could no longer support vehicles’ weight. The bridge served as the main link to a now shuttered city-run homeless shelter.
Boston Public Works Commissioner Michael Dennehy said the water main crashed into the shipping channel beneath the bridge last week after its crumbling metal bracket gave way. “It’s corroded beyond rusting,” he said, adding city officials were notified of the collapse Jan. 13.
The pipe was hauled to the surface three days later. It was partially filled with frozen water and weighed roughly 6,000 pounds, he said.
“The Coast Guard is very concerned about the state of this bridge,” said Dennehy. “It’s quite a fall. It’s a 12-inch thick water main. It’s heavy steel.”
Rick Nolan, president of Boston Harbor Cruises, which operates the MBTA’s commuter ferries, said his company this week made the “prudent decision” to divert two dozen ferries daily around Long Island rather than risk going under the bridge. The detour adds about three to six minutes to each trip.
Nolan said “we shudder to think” what would have happened if the main landed on one of his 400-passenger ferries: “It would have crashed through the aluminum cabins and caused painful injuries, if not death.”
Demolition of the bridge should begin Jan. 31, Dennehy said, adding: “We anticipate that this bridge will be down by April 30.”
The mayor closed the 3,050-foot two-lane steel bridge Oct. 8 after reports it could no longer support vehicles’ weight. The bridge served as the main link to a now shuttered city-run homeless shelter.
Boston Public Works Commissioner Michael Dennehy said the water main crashed into the shipping channel beneath the bridge last week after its crumbling metal bracket gave way. “It’s corroded beyond rusting,” he said, adding city officials were notified of the collapse Jan. 13.
The pipe was hauled to the surface three days later. It was partially filled with frozen water and weighed roughly 6,000 pounds, he said.
“The Coast Guard is very concerned about the state of this bridge,” said Dennehy. “It’s quite a fall. It’s a 12-inch thick water main. It’s heavy steel.”
Rick Nolan, president of Boston Harbor Cruises, which operates the MBTA’s commuter ferries, said his company this week made the “prudent decision” to divert two dozen ferries daily around Long Island rather than risk going under the bridge. The detour adds about three to six minutes to each trip.
Nolan said “we shudder to think” what would have happened if the main landed on one of his 400-passenger ferries: “It would have crashed through the aluminum cabins and caused painful injuries, if not death.”
Demolition of the bridge should begin Jan. 31, Dennehy said, adding: “We anticipate that this bridge will be down by April 30.”
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