Fore-Ever Innovative

The new Fore River Bridge is a hallmark project for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Accelerated Bridge Program. The project consists of a 324-foot-long Vertical Lift Span in addition to 2000 feet of approach superstructure joining the Boston, MA suburbs of Quincy and Weymouth. The structure will support four lanes of vehicular traffic, two bicycle lanes, and two pedestrian walkways, resulting in a roadway envelope over 73 feet wide. The new bridge structures will replace a temporary lift bridge and approach spans that replaced the previous bridge that was demolished in 2004. The project was awarded to the joint venture team of J.F. White-Skanska-Koch as a Design-Build Procurement, with Parsons serving as the lead designer. Extreme care in phasing and erection of this structure had to be taken to minimize disruption to vehicular and maritime traffic routes. Planning, analysis, design, erection and construction staging considerations have resulted in innovations in the lift span tower framing, lift span framing, and tower foundations.