Walden St. Bridge?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Anyone know the eta of the Walden St. bridge? It seems like it's been off line for years now.

aside: why the heck does it take so long to fix/rebuild it? It's only a little bridge. If the city/state didn't have the resources why didn't they wait until they did (assuming the bridge wasn't completely in danger of falling down). Has there been any activity at all on it? Or do they have one part time contractor working on it who doesn't return phone calls...

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Ask the folks in Somerville who live near the Lowell St. Bridge as to what the likely turn of events is going to be. :-/ That one was closed 1999-2007.

[desireearmfeldt]

I don't know what the current ETA is, but as far as I remember, when the project started it had a fairly long-seeming ETA from the start (like, over a year?).

And I'm pretty sure it's been offline one summer, but not two, by now...

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Bridgebuilding is hard.

It isn't like building an above-ground structure - much of the difficulty is in preparing the footings. In a densely-packed area like Walden St., with train lines going under, and houses/private structures all over, preparing the footings is difficult to begin with. Add to that plenty of decades-old infrastructure (water, power, sewer, utility rights-of-way) and things become very difficult indeed. Prepping the footings or repairing existing footings can often also involve lots of sitting around and waiting, in the form of compacting soil/earth with weight and gravity, or curing concrete (which, underground and in sufficient quantities can take months or years - see: curing times at the Hoover Dam for an extreme example)

Even a little bridge can have lots of engineering involved.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

If your question is "why aren't they working on it right now"? I think the answers are" winter" and "it's in a redesign stage because of a snafu".

There's also a Porter Square LJ, where this was discussed when the bridge was closed.
The bridge closed in October of 2006 and the estimated construction time was 18-24 months.

http://community.livejournal.com/porter_square/3805.html#cutid1

why the heck does it take so long to fix/rebuild it?
Well, there is an active rail line under it. Also winter and concrete are not the best companions.
First they had to build the pedestrian bridge.
Then they needed to demolish the old bridge.
Now they're working on building the new bridge.

According to this City of Cambridge site, http://www.cambridgema.gov/TheWorks/projects/waldenstreetbridge.html

Project update (12/20/07): Construction has been delayed due to the failure to one of the shafts. The bridge design is being modified due the failure. More information will be posted when it becomes available.

So I assume that we should not expect the work to be finished before October 2008.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

And why have they done major construction on Upland, which is the only alternate to Walden (at least for my purposes), and then lied to me about it when I telephoned them at Cambridge city hall? Beats me, but it's not like I'd expect to hear the truth from them about another project, either.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Every time I go by, there seems to be 2 guys working on it. And, yes...it will take a long time to rebuild that bridge all by themselves.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

There was a serious drainage problem on Upland--it wasn't elective construction.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

For much simpler government-run projects, like road repaving, the usual procedure is to tear things up, leave it in a messy and dangerous state for plenty of months, and then sweep in and finish the project in a day. I'm sure a more complicated prject like a bridge will only be worse.

Private construction projects really do happen much faster. Large buildings have popped up around MIT and Kendall Square in much less time than it's taken Cambridge to not finish rebuilding the intersection and small park at Mass Ave and Main Street.

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

Awww, but they had that cute little temporary park there during the DNC in 2004... Wow, that has been a mess for a long time.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

thanks for the replies and insights. I have no idea what goes into building a bridge so I wondered since other building projects seem to move faster. But maybe that is perception based on need/use. How long One Davis Sq. took (for example) I don't know and didn't care since I wasn't waiting for it.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

That bridge was, in fact, in danger of falling down. And construction moves more slowly on it than it might otherwise because it's directly over the railroad tracks.

My guess is that it will probably be completed toward the end of this year.

[ron_newman]

The biggest obstacle to repairing this is that the commuter rail runs from about 7 am to 12:30 am daily. It has to keep running throughout the construction. I don't know if any freight traffic runs during the overnight hours.

[ilai]

It figures that they only started doing real work on that piece of Lafayette Square after I moved out of the area. Back then I was really excited that it might be done by 2005 or 2006 like they were claiming....

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

What is the "historic brick cattle pass" that they will be restoring under the bridge as part of the project? Any idea?

The majority of the trees between the railroad tracks and the tennis courts on Rindge Ave have been cut down and there are construction elements (hay bales, fencing) along that part of the tracks. Is this also part of the bridge construction project? Since I'm not sure what a historic brick cattle pass looks like, I didn't know if its construction would extend into that area.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

The "historic brick cattle pass" is the brick archway that the bridge was built over. Back in the day, they would let cattle off the trains in Porter Square and they would walk along paths to get where they needed to be. Where the commuter rail lies now was part of that trail and the pass was part of where they moved the cattle by.

Also, the Porterhouse steak was named for the hotel (aka boarding house) that once existed in Porter Square. The place became known for that particular cut of steak after some time. Go fig.

There are your facts of the day!

(That was all really bad grammar, but it's kind of hard to explain with good grammar, as it turns out.)

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! The proposed bridge looks very nice in the photo simulation that's on the City of Cambridge website. I like the black metal fence and the stonework detailing.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

They said Fall 2008 at the beginning (which was already an extension from the initial "Summer 2008" date), so if they say Fall 2009 now, we're doomed.

[ron_newman]

An e-mail I just got from the Porter Square Neighbors Association ilst:

From Rebecca Fuentes

Walden St. Bridge

Based on conversations with MassHighway, the City has the following update:

a.. In mid-February, the contractor re-mobilized on-site, and has been working on the historic cow path and other preparatory activities on the Mass Ave side.
b.. The historic cow path was found to be in fairly fragile condition, and was moved up in the construction schedule in order to stabilize the arch structure before additional demolition takes place. The contractor is currently pointing the existing brickwork to strengthen the cow path arch under heated tarps (visible from the pedestrian bridge).
c.. Work on the cow path is scheduled for completion in late March. In early April, removal of the remaining existing north wall/ abutments will begin.
d.. The design and construction issues related to the new bridge abutments have been substantially resolved, and so abutment work is planned to proceed this spring.

Other Projects:

I have received several inquiries about other work in the area of the Yerxa Road Underpass, on the section of land abutting the Pemberton Street tennis and basketball courts. This clearing was done by the City's Parks Division to address overgrowth maintenance issues, and will be followed up with the planting of 4-6 new trees and grass this spring.

On Upland Road, the City's contractor will be remobilizing to complete final work over the coming weeks. This includes clean up, repairing sections of asphalt, completing sidewalk/ property line transitions, and any other outstanding issues. The contractor will coordinate directly with abutters to schedule repairs along the back of sidewalk.

[ah42.livejournal.com]

wait just a gosh darn minute. It's open?! Those years more than cover the entire time I lived in the area!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Yup. Opened late last summer IIRC, maybe August.