A bridge between Charlestown and Boston had been conceived as far back as the 18th century. The “High Bridge” as its called today was a temporary bridge built to deal with traffic and as a means of passing through the center of Boston. It was built in 1952 as a short answer to the problem. Over time it became clear that it was not built to last as the design led to many car accidents and traffic jams. Many cars also received flat tires as the road began to wear away.

The “Big Dig” is the largest project of its type in the nation. I say “is” instead of was because even today it is not finished. It was started in 1987 and no estimate came close to the billions of dollars and nearly two decades that have already been put into it.
Between 1987 and 1994 many bridge designs were proposed and the shut down. It was not until more than six years of debate had gone by that the design received state and federal environmental approval in June of 1994.

Christian Menn, a famous Swiss architect was given the job of design this bridge. He was given a lot of constraints though as the bridge construction could not interfere with everyday life. The High Bridge had to remain open, the Charles River had to remain navigable and the Orange line on the “T” had to remain open. Obviously this created some problems. However Menn was not about to let that stop him. He was going to design the widest cable stayed bridge in the country.

The two towers which were shaped like upside down “Y’s” were of different heights. The one at the North end was 322 feet above water and at the South end was 295 feet above water. The bridge was both concrete and steel in design with a network of 116 cables, the longest of which is 500 feet. The towers were finished by the end of 1999.

The main span of the bridge had 70 small diamond and hexagonal holes cut out of it to let light pass onto the water below, but in 2001 much of it had to be torn up due to the discovery that the concrete hadn’t solidified properly with the steel.
The bridge was opened on October 6th of 2002 and dedicated to Leonard P. Zakim who died in 1999 as well as to those who fought in the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.