Fore River Bridge Replacement Project. Spanning the Weymouth Fore River between Quincy and Weymouth, Massachusetts. Highway

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1 Chapter 1 Project Name: Project Location: Project Proponent: 1936 Fore River Bridge Project Summary Spanning the Weymouth Fore River between Quincy and Weymouth, Massachusetts, Highway The Highway (MassDOT, formally known as the Massachusetts Highway Department) is undertaking a major project to replace the existing temporary bridge over the Weymouth Fore River (also known as simply the Fore River) between Quincy and Weymouth. This temporary bridge replaced a severely deteriorated permanent bridge that was built in 1936 and demolished in The major goal of this project is to provide a reliable permanent bridge that is functionally equivalent to the historic bridge (that is, the same vehicular capacity) while maximizing the vertical channel clearance to reduce opening frequency and duration and widening the horizontal channel clearance to meet navigational needs. The project further seeks to meet budget constraints, provide a reliable bridge that is economical to maintain, and include acceptable bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in accordance with current standards. This (EA) is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of Temporary Bridge of structural defects were found in the rolling lift movable spans. Traffic was relocated off the bridge onto an adjacent temporary movable bridge in 2002, and the historic bascule bridge was demolished in Prior to demolition, the bridge was documented in accordance with Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) guidelines per the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) developed between the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f). (See Appendix F) The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Massachusetts Highway Department (now MassDOT) were concurring parties. The existing temporary bridge is located along a detour alignment approximately 150 feet upriver from the 1936 bridge alignment (see Figure 1.1-2) and carries four lanes of vehicular traffic with one five-foot sidewalk. The movable bridge span of the temporary structure consists of twin vertical lift spans, each carrying traffic in one direction. There is a vertical channel clearance of 55 feet above mean high water in the closed position. The temporary bridge superstructure was constructed using ACROW panels and has a fifteen-year life span. The temporary bridge was not designed to standard bridge construction codes and requires nearly constant construction maintenance to grease cables and tighten bolts. Average openings for navigational traffic result in roadway closures of approximately 21 minutes. Overview The Fore River Bridge links Quincy and Weymouth via State Route 3A (Washington Street/Bridge Street), which carries approximately 32,000 vehicles per day and is a major commuter route connecting Boston and Quincy with South Shore communities (see Figure for a project locus). This portion of the Weymouth Fore River is navigable with a designated shipping channel leading to a fully developed harbor with numerous industrial and commercial maritime uses, including a major fuel and commercial heating oil terminal for the Boston region. The area has been defined as a Designated Port Area (DPA) by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). The 1936 Fore River Bridge was a rolling lift bascule-type bridge with a 175-foot horizontal channel clearance and a 33-foot vertical channel clearance above mean high water when the span was closed. It was determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge carried two lanes of vehicular traffic in each direction and provided two eight-foot sidewalks that were wide enough to accommodate both bicyclists and pedestrians. Bridge openings to allow commercial and recreational maritime traffic to pass resulted in traffic backups on Route 3A, which in turn affect the adjacent neighborhoods in Quincy and Weymouth. Existing temporary bridge located along a detour alignment The 1936 Fore River Bridge was found to be seriously deteriorated in the late 1990s; in particular, the concrete pier structures that supported the movable span suffered from extensive and irreparable defects and a series 1-1

2 Figure Project Locus 1-2

3 Figure Bridge Alignments Source: STV Incorporated 1-3

4 1.2 Project History The historic Fore River Bridge, completed in 1936, was found to be seriously deteriorated in the late 1990s and in 2002 was replaced by a $40 million temporary movable bridge with a 15-year life span. The temporary bridge was originally designed for use during an extensive repair of the 1936 bridge. It was then discovered that the 1936 bridge was irreparable and alternatives for a permanent replacement structure were considered in the Fore River Bridge Replacement Study completed in 2002 by Vollmer Associate (see Appendix H). The study analyzed six potential alternatives: View from oil tanker as tugboats work to align the vessel to pass through the Fore River Bridge a vertical lift bridge with 300 feet of horizontal and 40 feet of vertical channel clearance when closed; a bascule bridge with 300 feet of horizontal and 40 feet of vertical channel clearance when closed; a vertical lift bridge with 300 feet of horizontal and 70 feet of vertical clearance when closed; a fixed bridge with a 350-foot span length; a fixed bridge with a 750-foot span length; and a tunnel. The criteria used to evaluate the alternatives were required property takings, traffic queuing, utility relocations, order of magnitude of construction costs, and relative maintenance costs (low, medium, or high). The study concluded that both the tunnel and the fixed bridge alternatives would require a significant number of takings and would result in controversial overall changes to the character and aesthetics of the community, and that the tunnel option specifically would be prohibitively expensive. Based on the results of the 2002 study, MassDOT is analyzing the movable span alternatives along the historic 1936 bridge alignment in this EA. (See Chapter 4 for additional discussion of bridge alternatives.) A Type Study for the Fore River Bridge was completed in early 2010 by STV Incorporated. The study analyzed vertical lift and bascule movable span replacement bridge options. The study recommended the vertical lift option based on three primary advantages: the higher vertical navigation clearance afforded by the vertical lift which reduces the number of bridge openings and the resultant traffic delays, the wider horizontal navigation clearance afforded by the vertical lift, and the questionable reliability/ maintainability of the exceptionally large bascule bridge that would be required to meet the project goals. Oil tanker in Fore River Ship Channel The vertical lift provides 17 feet more vertical clearance at the fender line than the bascule when the movable span is in the closed position; that is, when the span is open to roadway traffic. Consequently, the number of annual bridge openings is estimated to be 475, roughly 25% lower than the 633 openings that would be anticipated for the bascule bridge. (See Appendix J for a full discussion of the estimated number of openings for each bridge type.) Each opening is anticipated to result in a 13-minute vehicular roadway closure yielding significant traffic queues. The reduced number of openings for the proposed vertical lift bridge equates to fewer delays for vehicles using the bridge, and less frequent traffic queues in the adjacent neighborhoods. The Fore River estuary is classified as a Designated Port Area (DPA) by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). Because of this designation, the proposed bridge cannot hinder the present use, or future development of marine-dependent facilities. Additionally, the Secretary of Transportation is authorized under Section 9 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended, the General Bridge Act of 1946, as amended, and the Act of March 23, 1906, as amended to approve the location and clearances of bridges across navigable waters of the United States in order to preserve navigation and protect interstate and foreign commerce. The Secretary of Transportation delegated this authority to the Accordingly, the USCG is United States Coast Guard (USCG)1. responsible for approving the location and plans for the proposed Fore River Bridge and for imposing any necessary conditions through the issuance of a bridge permit. The federal navigation channel is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). The legislated channel depth maintained by the ACOE is 35 feet below Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW). The area between the temporary bridge fenders provides for a navigation channel with a 175-foot width2. Beyond this bridge site, the federal channel widens to at least 400 feet on the river side of the bridge and at least 300 feet on the ocean side of the bridge in the turning basin area near Twin Rivers Technologies Vehicular and Navigational Concerns Since 1936, vehicular traffic has increased as residential development and commercial ventures in the region have grown, and the maritime uses of the waterway have remained active. The design goal for the new permanent bridge is to achieve the functional equivalence of the historic bridge with a reliable, maintainable movable structure that maximizes the vertical channel clearance to accommodate as many sloops as possible in the closed position and widens the horizontal channel clearance to meet navigational needs. Several vehicular and navigational concerns led to the selection of the vertical lift as the Preferred Alternative. Bridge Permit Application Guide, U.S. Coast Guard Bridge Administration, COMDTPUB P B, June 16, Although the horizontal clearance between the temporary bridge fenders is presently 175 feet, there was a temporary fender system in place during the temporary bridge construction which reduced the navigation channel width to 169 feet. Vessels allided with the temporary fender system on several occasions and it was removed in September 2009 following the installation of the dolphin structures and fender system designed to protect the temporary bridge throughout its usable life. 1-4

5 The current channel width of 175 feet is not acceptable to the mariners because it leads to allisions 3 with the bridge fender system and delays as ships thread the needle through the narrow bridge opening. This narrow opening does not allow enough room for tug boats to accompany the typical Panamax class tanker through. Historic discussions with the USCG indicated that a 300-foot wide navigation channel would be required at the Fore River Bridge site, 4 which is reflected in the alternatives evaluated in the 2002 Fore River Bridge Replacement Study as previously discussed in Section 1.2. All movable bridge alternatives considered in that study assumed a horizontal clearance of 300 feet. Through subsequent coordination with the USCG and CZM, MassDOT determined that it was most appropriate to evaluate navigation channel widths of 225 feet and 250 feet for the bascule and vertical lift options, respectively. The USCG would not accept anything less than 225 feet as the horizontal clearance for the replacement bridge (see correspondence with the USCG in Appendix A). While the 225-foot channel width exceeds the actual beam of the Panamax class vessels using the navigation channel today, the complexity of the cross currents, tidal range, river bend, and wind at the bridge site forces pilots to employ multiple tugs to orient the ship with the bridge opening and to progress through the bridge opening at a slight angle in order to successfully pass through the bridge without the tugs accompanying the ship. Current upgrades to the Panama Canal are already affecting global shipping as tanker fleets are upgraded to the Post-Panamax size that is expected to become prevalent along the eastern seaboard. The Post- Panamax vessel class is not well-defined, as it relates to the anticipated larger vessel class that will be able to use the Panama Canal once its expansion is completed. The 250-foot navigation channel provided by the proposed vertical lift structure better accommodates current and future vessels at this challenging navigation location, and therefore is the more prudent choice for a new bridge at this location. The bascule bridge presented in the Type Study is not recommended as it does not meet the project purpose and need as well as the vertical lift bridge (see Chapter 2 for a discussion of project purpose and need). A bascule bridge with a horizontal clearance of 225 feet would be exceptionally large, resulting in reliability and maintenance issues. The proposed bascule structure having a solid deck, a span length of 315 feet from trunnion-to-trunnion 5, and a deck width of 74 feet would lie outside the range where bascule structures are typically used. If constructed, this bascule bridge would represent one of the largest, heaviest bascule 3 Allision is the act of impacting a stationary object, such as a moving vessel striking a stationary vessel or fixed object such as a bridge. 4 Historic discussions and studies performed between the 1970 s and the early 2000 s. 5 The axle or pivot point about which the cantilevered portion of a bascule bridge rotates. It is usually constructed of a large steel pin or cylinder. The lift span, or the leaf, is balanced by the counterweight on the opposite sides of the trunnion. structures in the United States. The large, non-standard machinery required for this type of installation would present procurement and maintenance issues throughout the life of the bridge, resulting in additional bridge openings or even extended roadway closures. These risks became reality for the community of Lorain, Ohio when the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge the only known bascule in the United States with a trunnion-to-trunnion span length greater than the 315 feet proposed for the Fore River bascule alternative was closed to roadway traffic, bicyclists, and pedestrians for several months while the Ohio Department of Transportation procured specialized replacement parts The Accelerated Bridge Program The Accelerated Bridge Program was implemented in 2008 to repair, replace or rehabilitate structurally deficient bridges throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The goal of the Accelerated Bridge Program is to reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state over an 8-year time frame ending in Under this program, progress is tracked by the Accelerated Bridge Program Oversight Council, which is charged with monitoring the progress of the implementing agencies and keeping the public informed about the results. The Fore River Bridge Replacement Project is one of the most significant projects being undertaken by the Accelerated Bridge Program. 1.5 Project Costs and Funding Sources In 2008, Massachusetts enacted Chapter 233 of the Acts of 2008 to finance an accelerated structurally deficient bridge improvement program, referred to as the Accelerated Bridge Program (ABP). Sections 2 and 2A of this legislation provides nearly $3 billion in funding to be used to improve the condition of bridges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As noted in Sections 7 and 8 of the legislation, $1.1 billion is funded through Federal Grant Anticipation Notes (GANs) and almost $1.9 billion is funded through Commonwealth of Massachusetts Special Obligation Bonds (SOBs). All funding for the Fore River Bridge project will come from these two sources. GANs are Federal revenue bonds that are backed by anticipated grant receipts, allowing transportation agencies to borrow against future Federal funding. Specifically, the agency will issue bonds secured with a pledge of Federal assistance. This enables the agency to accumulate up front capital and then pay down the bonds over a period of time, as it receives the Federal funds. SOBs will be issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to help fund the ABP as the State s portion for the Fore River Bridge project. These bonds are secured by revenues credited to the Highway Fund and are not general obligations of the Commonwealth. 6 Lorain s Bridge to Nowhere: Protestors fed up with ODOT s lack of answers, The Morning Journal, October 18,

6 Eighty percent of the funding for the Fore River Bridge project will come from Federal GANs funds, totaling approximately $226 million. The other twenty percent $56.5 million match for the total project cost will be obtained through SOBs. These two sources of funding are anticipated to finance the remaining total project projection of $ million. 1.6 Conformance with Transportation Improvement Plans and Land Use Plans Metropolitan Planning Organization s Long Range Transportation Plan The Fore River Bridge is included in the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization s (MPO) long range transportation plan, Journey to Transportation Improvement Program and Air Quality Conformity Determination The Fore River Bridge project is included in the MPO s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for federal fiscal years The TIP serves to implement the MPO s long range transportation plan by programming funding for transit, roadway and bridge projects over a fouryear period. The TIP is financially-constrained and the MPO can only include projects for which funds are expected to be available. The TIP also includes the region s air quality conformity determination. Projects included in the TIP conform to air quality requirements. Weymouth Master Plan The Weymouth Master Plan identified several areas in the North Weymouth neighborhood in the vicinity of the project area that should be targeted for improvements, and transportation is one of the key components. Route 3A/Bridge Street is described as providing excellent regional access to areas along the South Shore from Weymouth. Improvements to the Fore River Bridge would be consistent with the Weymouth Master Plan. Fore River Shipyard Master Plan Currently, a master plan for the redevelopment of the Fore River Shipyard is being developed, with emphasis on smart growth and transit-oriented development, including reserving portions of the site for marine-related uses. The proposed Fore River Bridge would support these goals. 1.7 Modal Interrelationships Modal interrelationships refer to a facility's interface with other types of transportation facilities, such as rapid transit, airports, and pedestrian facilities. The Fore River Bridge is a transportation facility for passenger vehicles, trucks, and all types of emergency vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. It spans an active navigation channel used by commuter ferries, commercial tankers, and recreational ships. The construction of a new, permanent bridge will allow for the continued and improved use of the facility for all transportation modes. 1-6

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