Municipal

The Rehabilitation of Longfellow Bridge: Design Beyond the Structure

by Danna Day

Danna Day

Danna Day

The historic Longfellow Bridge, built in 1908, acts as a major link between the cities of Boston and Cambridge. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is renovating the 107-year-old bridge by addressing its current structural deficiencies, upgrading its structural capacity, and bringing the bridge up to modern code.

The rehabilitation of the Longfellow Bridge not only addresses restoring and improving the structure of the bridge, it also involves the restoration and preservation of the historic Esplanade Park where the bridge touches down in both Boston and Cambridge.

 

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Arching over Storrow Drive, a new pedestrian bridge will link Charles Circle and the Esplanade.

Boston-based Copley Wolff Design Group (CWDG) is working with the project team to provide landscape architectural services to restore and enhance the parkland surrounding the bridge. CWDG’s design is reminiscent of Olmsted’s 1892 Charles Basin Master Plan. In a modern gesture towards Olmsted’s plan, the design carries forth the intent to create small garden spaces within Boston’s bustling urban setting. These spaces, intended to provide rest, respite, and relaxation, will contain native and local materials. Granite benches will be merged together with a historic plant palette to create outdoor rooms that overlook the Charles River and the skyline of the city beyond.

Other design elements include interpretive and educational components, hardscape materials selection, and accessibility improvements to meet current guidelines.

Due to the magnitude of the bridge rehabilitation, several trees have been transplanted and others may require removal. MassDOT and the project team have coordinated extensively with the Department of Conservation and Recreation in preparing a tree protection and removal plan which has been presented at a number of public meetings. Copley Wolff Design Group’s role has been to ensure the survival of existing trees and plants, minimize disturbance and compaction by determining where the critical root zones are, and provide input on strategic pruning of the tree canopy.

In addition to rehabilitating the historic bridge, another major component of the project is the construction of a contemporary pedestrian bridge to serve as a link from Charles Circle to the Esplanade parkland. The new bridge climbs into the tree canopy and arches over Storrow Drive, providing the sensation of walking through the tree tops. To create a seamless connection between the Esplanade and where the pedestrian bridge touches down, Copley Wolff Design Group included hardscape materials such as granite cobble paving and plantings that are consistent with the original Charles River Basin Master Plan.

Danna Day is the director of marketing at Copley Wolff Design Group Landscape Architects & Planners of Boston.