{{short description|Bridge in Boston, Massachusetts}} {{hatnote|Not to be confused with the 1786 Charles River Bridge at the site of the current [[Charlestown Bridge]], nor the current [[Charles River Dam]] built in 1978 at the site of the 1828 [[Warren Bridge]].}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox bridge |bridge_name=Charles River Dam Bridge |official_name= |carries=six lanes of traffic ({{jct|state=MA|MA|28}}), two sidewalks, 2 protected bike lanes |crosses=[[Charles River]] at mile 1.0 |locale=[[Boston, Massachusetts]] |id=160134 |coordinates={{coord|42.3680|-71.0708|type:landmark_scale:10000|display=inline,title}} |maint=[[Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation]] |open=1910 |below=4.6 m (15 ft) |design=[[steel]] [[bascule bridge]] |mainspan=19.2 m (63.0 ft) |length=25.0 m (82.0 ft) |width=25.6 m (84.0 ft)
}}
The '''Charles River Dam Bridge''', officially the '''Craigie Bridge''',<ref> {{cite book |title=U.S. Coast Pilot, volume 1, Atlantic Coast: Eastport to Cape Cod |publisher = [[NOAA]] |year = 2008 |page = 69 }}</ref> also called '''Craigie's Bridge''' or the '''Canal Bridge''', is a six-lane [[bascule bridge]] across the [[Charles River]] in the [[West End, Boston|West End]] neighborhood of [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]. The bridge, maintained by the [[Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation]] (DCR, formerly the MDC), carries [[Massachusetts Route 28]] (Charles River Dam Road at this location) next to the [[Green Line (MBTA)|Green Line]]'s [[Lechmere Viaduct]]. The [[Museum of Science, Boston|Museum of Science]] is located on the dam and nearby piers. Charles River Dam Road connects [[Leverett Circle]] in the West End to [[East Cambridge, Massachusetts|East Cambridge]], but most of the road is fixed, and the asymmetrically sited drawbridge is a short span entirely on the Boston side of the river.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Maps/Neighborhood/cddmap_nhood_1.pdf|title=East Cambridge Map|work=Cambridge Community Development Department|date=23 June 2016|publisher=City of Cambridge, MA|access-date=Dec 18, 2019}}</ref>
The original [[lock (water transport)|lock]] for the Charles River was incorporated into the dam, just west of the Charles River Dam Bridge, but it was replaced by three parallel locks in the new [[Charles River Dam]], located further east, at the site of the old [[Warren Bridge]].
The former lock at the Charles River Dam Bridge now allows water and small ships to flow freely. Taller ships require the opening of the drawbridge, operated by the [[Massachusetts Department of Transportation]].
== History == [[Image:OldCharlesRiverLock2001.jpg|thumb|Photo of the original [[Lock (water transport)|lock]] for the [[Charles River]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] as bordered by Nashua Street Park on the south and [[Museum of Science, Boston|Charles Hayden Planetarium]] to the north and positioned just west of the Charles River Dam Bridge.]]
The first bridge on the site was known as the Canal Bridge, named after the [[Middlesex Canal]] which ran from the Charlestown Mill Pond to Middlesex Village in East Chelmsford Massachusetts; later p/o Lowell.<ref>Clark, Mary Stetson; The Old Middlesex Canal; Hilltop Press, Medford MA,1974, p-42</ref> As an investment, businessman [[Andrew Craigie]] purchased the largely undeveloped farmland on the Cambridge side around [[Lechmere Point]] from various owners (including Mary Lechmere and heirs) in preparation for building the bridge. The investors incorporated in 1807 with a charter to build a bridge from Leverett Street in the [[West End, Boston]] to the eastern end of Lechmere Point. One-third of shares were owned by the Middlesex Canal Corporation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/publications09masgoog|quote=craigie bridge middlesex canal.|title=Publications|year=1911|page=[https://archive.org/details/publications09masgoog/page/n70 60]|publisher=The Society|access-date=25 October 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
The bridge opened in 1809, and came to be known as Craigie's Bridge. The construction of the bridge prompted the laying out of roads to the center of Cambridge (now Cambridge Street, running to Harvard Square) and Somerville/Medford (Bridge Street, now Monsignor O'Brien Highway/[[Massachusetts Route 28]]). Craigie and associates, who formed the Lechemere Point Corporation, benefited from the building boom that followed, spurred on by their efforts to expand the public street grid.<ref>Publications, p. 60</ref> Residential cross streets were constructed and some were named after investors (Otis, Thorndike, and Gore).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historycambridg02paiggoog|title=History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630 - 1877: With a Genealogical Register|first=Lucius Robinson|last=Paige|date=25 October 1877|publisher=H. O. Houghton|page=[https://archive.org/details/historycambridg02paiggoog/page/n213 183]|access-date=25 October 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/publications09masgoog|title=Publications|year=1911|publisher=The Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/publications09masgoog/page/n70 60]|access-date=25 October 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
The bridge was sold to the Hancock Free Bridge Corporation in 1846,<ref>Publications, p. 61</ref> and became toll-free on January 30, 1858.<ref>History of Cambridge, p. 201-202</ref>
The current bridge was constructed in 1910, along with the dam that turned the lower Charles River from a tidal [[estuary]] into a fresh-water basin. This reduced the problematic odor from raw sewage flowing into the river by keeping the formerly tidal lands covered with water.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/04/28/boston-rising-tide/BFmPPpwaeWV0Gj90tZ2sVK/story.html |title=Boston vs. the rising tide |date=2018-04-28 |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]] |access-date=2018-06-06 |archive-date=2018-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505025905/http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/04/28/boston-rising-tide/BFmPPpwaeWV0Gj90tZ2sVK/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was completed on June 30, and greeted with a two-hour fireworks display that Fourth of July. Thousands of people watched from the new Boston Embankment (the early [[Charles River Esplanade]]), which took the place of the former tidal flats.<ref name="100years">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/yourtown/cambridge/articles/2010/07/04/100_years_of_celebrating_the_fourth_of_july_at_esplanade/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707062922/http://www.boston.com/yourtown/cambridge/articles/2010/07/04/100_years_of_celebrating_the_fourth_of_july_at_esplanade/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 7, 2010|title=100 years of celebrating the Fourth of July at Esplanade|access-date=2010-08-11|date=2010-07-04|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref>
Construction of the [[Museum of Science, Boston|Museum of Science]] began on the dam in 1948, and finished in 1951.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation completed a 2-year project to rehabilitate the Craigie Bridge and to completely replace the drawbridge in 2011. The project required the closure of the Boston-bound lanes from November 6, 2010, through mid December 2010, and again from early February 2011 through mid-April 2011, necessitating traffic detours.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/charlesriverbridges/TrafficInformation.html |title=Traffic Information - Charles River Basin Project |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022110651/http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/charlesriverbridges/TrafficInformation.html |archive-date=2010-10-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was paid for out of borrowed funds as part of the statewide [[Massachusetts Department of Transportation#Accelerated Bridge Program|Accelerated Bridge Program]].
In November 2018, a Boston University graduate student was killed by a dump truck while bicycling on the bridge as both turned right onto Museum Way.<ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/11/09/pedestrian-hit-truck-seriously-hurt-near-museum-science/RO8nIZod95n7WOSEqybClK/story.html Cyclist killed is identified as BU graduate student]</ref> The next month, [[MassDOT]] announced that dedicated bicycle signals and protected bicycle lanes would be added in summer 2019, dropping automobile traffic to two lanes in each direction.<ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/05/08/state-begin-work-june-improve-bike-safety-road-near-museum-science/4kr5Tog3ZbQq9YRWhoFqjK/story.html State to begin work in June to improve bike safety on road near Museum of Science]</ref>
== See also == * [[List of crossings of the Charles River]]
==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{commons category}} * {{cite book |last=The Cambridge Historical Society |title=Publications |year=1911 |volume=V |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hT0VAAAAYAAJ&q=craigie+bridge+middlesex+canal&pg=RA2-PA60 }}
{{Crossings navbox |structure = [[List of crossings of the Charles River|Crossings]] |place = [[Charles River]] |bridge = Charles River Dam Bridge |bridge signs = [[Image:MA Route 28.svg|20px]] |upstream = [[Longfellow Bridge]] |upstream signs = [[Image:MA Route 3.svg|20px]] |downstream = [[Lechmere Viaduct]] |downstream signs = ''MBTA Green Line'' }}
[[Category:Bascule bridges in the United States]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1810]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1910]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 2011]] [[Category:Bridges in Boston]] [[Category:Bridges over the Charles River]] [[Category:Dams in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Former toll bridges in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Road bridges in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Steel bridges in the United States]] [[Category:West End, Boston]]