Bill Russell Bridge | North Washington St.

Disassembly of the temp bridge appears to have begun.

1/10:
PXL_20240110_200557423.jpg


PXL_20240110_200959875.jpg
 
Kind of crazy to see how badly it turned out compared to renders. Looks like the city got duped again.
 
MAGGLIOORDONEZ said:
Kind of crazy to see how badly it turned out compared to renders. Looks like the city got duped again.
Click to expand...
For what it is, it looks decent. To me it looks too white-ish, like something in a sun-belt city. I would have preferred a truss bridge done in weathering steel, as a tip of the hat to the historical industrial look of the area.
 
It's an inferior knockoff the NYC WTC Station. Really dont understand why whoever approved this didn't realize that. The small size of the structure in comparison with the overall bridge makes it look like a superfluous, stuck on dressing rather than any legitimate architectural flourish. The only pictures where this thing looks good are the ones showing the trees in full foliage, which at best will be about 3 months a year and they're all going die from salt and freezing anyway.

If Boston and Mass are so keen on green buildings and climate change combating, why didn't they make a truly green bridge? That would have looked great. Or an industrial nod, as Charlie said. There is literally zero vernacular here.
 
I’m sorry but a real city wouldn’t allow this. “Oh you’re just going to leave the sides of the bridge open? Okay, and here’s another hundred million dollars for the trouble.”
 
MAGGLIOORDONEZ said:
I’m sorry but a real city wouldn’t allow this. “Oh you’re just going to leave the sides of the bridge open? Okay, and here’s another hundred million dollars for the trouble.”
Click to expand...
Still bitter that Nomar trade didn't go through? Or just upset that you narrowly missed both Sox championships with no rings to show for it?
 
Ok, so I get the frustration with this bridge, but I think there's a couple of things to point out that hopefully are productive in the conversation.

1. The bridge isn't finished. Yes, the work to complete the western side continues, but additional work is yet to be complete on the eastern face. If you zoom into the photo MAGGLIOORDONEZ shared, you can see there are still scaffolding elements and even temporary-looking pieces of wood sticking out just underneath the deck surface. I'd hazard a guess that some sort of superficial plating will be affixed over those steel elements (which I believe are coincidentally white to deter corrosive effects of marine air) at the very end to more closely match the renders.

2. The bridge was intended to complement rather than compete with the architectural statement that is the Zakim. I cede the point about the arch elements presenting as gimmicky, and I can see where one could make a comparison to the Oculus, though I don't think that's exactly what they were gong for here. I recall that a significant portion of the budget went into the funky piers underneath and the pairing superstructure, so with the commitment to that design, we weren't going to get a lot in terms of additional flourish. I would note that there was likely more value in reallocating some of that funding and putting it towards the topside aesthetic as a trade-off if embracing a more traditional span structure.
 
cburns said:
Ok, so I get the frustration with this bridge, but I think there's a couple of things to point out that hopefully are productive in the conversation.

1. The bridge isn't finished. Yes, the work to complete the western side continues, but additional work is yet to be complete on the eastern face. If you zoom into the photo MAGGLIOORDONEZ shared, you can see there are still scaffolding elements and even temporary-looking pieces of wood sticking out just underneath the deck surface. I'd hazard a guess that some sort of superficial plating will be affixed over those steel elements (which I believe are coincidentally white to deter corrosive effects of marine air) at the very end to more closely match the renders.

2. The bridge was intended to complement rather than compete with the architectural statement that is the Zakim. I cede the point about the arch elements presenting as gimmicky, and I can see where one could make a comparison to the Oculus, though I don't think that's exactly what they were gong for here. I recall that a significant portion of the budget went into the funky piers underneath and the pairing superstructure, so with the commitment to that design, we weren't going to get a lot in terms of additional flourish. I would note that there was likely more value in reallocating some of that funding and putting it towards the topside aesthetic as a trade-off if embracing a more traditional span structure.
Click to expand...
That scaffolding is to support a temporary walkway on the outside of the bridge, plus it's already gone from the east side. What you see is what you get, suckers.
 
the picture is of the east side, poster wasnt referring to the temporary bridge.
 
The east side is done, it's open, there's nothing else going there, and it looks like shit.
 
MAGGLIOORDONEZ said:
The east side is done, it's open, there's nothing else going there, and it looks like shit.
Click to expand...
The east side is open, but it's not done. There's still a lot of finishing work to be completed. They prioritized opening the east side so they could start work on the west, and the final aesthetic pieces are being put in later. In the recent pictures on this thread you can clearly see spots on the east side where lampposts still need to go in, and I'm pretty sure that railing is a temporary chainlink fence. In the picture you posted, you can clearly see a scissor lift under the east canopy because they are still finishing things over there.

1709852279214.png
 
ritchiew said:
The east side is open, but it's not done. There's still a lot of finishing work to be completed. They prioritized opening the east side so they could start work on the west, and the final aesthetic pieces are being put in later. In the recent pictures on this thread you can clearly see spots on the east side where lampposts still need to go in, and I'm pretty sure that railing is a temporary chainlink fence. In the picture you posted, you can clearly see a scissor lift under the east canopy because they are still finishing things over there.

View attachment 48330
Click to expand...
That picture is months old. All that temp stuff is gone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top