Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

What Arlington said, plus I've heard on here before that the green painted girders are a tip of the hat to the green color of the original demolished elevated rail structure.
 
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What Arkington said, plus I've heard on here before that the green painted girders are a tip of the hat to the green color of the original demolished elevated rail structure.
At the risk of wholesale derailment: why is green such a popular color for structural bridge girders anyways? Sure, the newer highway bridge replacements are often black or some shade of brown, but I feel the majority are still green. Other colors, like reds, orange, blues and purples are by far in the minority.
 
At the risk of wholesale derailment: why is green such a popular color for structural bridge girders anyways? Sure, the newer highway bridge replacements are often black or some shade of brown, but I feel the majority are still green. Other colors, like reds, orange, blues and purples are by far in the minority.

Seen mold and moss growing on the sides of a bridge before? Would look kind of nasty contrasted with fuscia.
 
Seen mold and moss growing on the sides of a bridge before? Would look kind of nasty contrasted with fuscia.
No I haven't, but I can imagine. I imagine this is why browns and blacks are popular too, as they hide rust better, or straight up use weathering steel. But I enjoy a splash of color; uniformity is boring. 146 is pretty good for this, actually, and these fuchsia bridges in Worcester seem to be holding up fine. That said, I will say that the Green Line Viaduct should be, well, green.

Edit: Oregon claims to be the home of that particular shade of green used on highway bridges and here.
 
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No I haven't, but I can imagine. I imagine this is why browns and blacks are popular too, as they hide rust better, or straight up use weathering steel. But I enjoy a splash of color; uniformity is boring. 146 is pretty good for this, actually, and these fuchsia bridges in Worcester seem to be holding up fine. That said, I will say that the Green Line Viaduct should be, well, green.

Edit: Oregon claims to be the home of that particular shade of green used on highway bridges and here.

It's funny, the moment you mentioned a fuchsia bridge, I knew it was that one. Very distinctive from 290.
 
What is that platform that they are building?
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^ I agree. and I understand the question because like a number of GLX platforms it seems strangely far from the nearby cross streets
 
I'm very confused by the layout of this station. There's a long walkway and THEN elevators?!
 
I was confused too but then I realized that if the station was closer to the Lowell St Bridge it wouldn't fit. But at the same time it isn't far enough away so that you can create an ADA ramp the entire way. So we get this.
 
I'm very confused by the layout of this station. There's a long walkway and THEN elevators?!
I was confused too but then I realized that if the station was closer to the Lowell St Bridge it wouldn't fit. But at the same time it isn't far enough away so that you can create an ADA ramp the entire way. So we get this.

Engineering is fun!
 
I was reading through the Union Square Revitalization Plan and I noticed that apparently Somerville either has or plans to negotiate air rights over the Fitchburg line. Is this just something that you do to cover bases when building next to surface transit tracks?

The SRA will convey to the MBTA a permanent volumetric easement for the station structure and a temporary easement for the drop-off/pickup area, reserving development air rights over the easement areas. The City of Somerville and the MBTA have also agreed to negotiate a future air rights agreement over the Fitchburg Commuter Rail right-of-way at such time as the SRA has a developer with a feasible air rights development proposal.
 
Originally, they were planning to rebuild the Lowell St Bridge. I'm guessing that is no longer the case?
 
The Lowell St bridge was rebuilt about 10 years ago, after being closed for a long time. They only needed to remove the original abutment, which was kept as a retaining wall after the recent rebuild.
 
This week's construction update notes that multiple platforms, canopies, and vertical steel are on the agenda:
 

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