The Floating Bridge

PRELUDE A bridge connects one place to another. It is also “a time, place, or means of connection or transition” (Merriam-Webster). Some bridges derive distinctive meanings from their unique locations, technologies, and histories. These include the Northern Avenue Bridge, engineered by MIT students and built in 1908 to link Boston proper with the Seaport District across Fort Point Channel. As a technological tour de force, it became the signature gateway to and from Seaport. CONCEPT Our proposal transforms the bridge into a ship that docks at diverse Boston Harbor shores. Becoming an iconic landmark on each waterfront, island or wharf it moors at, it activates local cultural and educational events and recreational activities there. Throughout the year it changes shores, thereby connecting disparate communities and places in a “hands across the sea” gesture, bringing people together from all around Boston and surrounding communities. BRIDGE AS ENERGY GENERATOR Two of the bridge’s three bays will have glass roof canopies with embedded PV cells (BIPV). Tidal turbines will be placed in the channels between the pontoons, creating more renewable energy, to be stored in large battery arrays in waterproofed bays on the pontoons. The bridge can thus sustain its own energy needs, depending on its energy demands. BRIDGE AS LIVING HISTORY The Northern Avenue Bridge will retain its historical significance while adding a new chapter to its rich history: it becomes part of both new and traditional civic rituals and takes the form of a new signature element in the city’s civic and maritime iconography. BRIDGE AS MULTI-USE PROGRAM PLATFORM The three bays can be programmed for concerts, fairs, festivals, parties, weddings and other community events. They can also be platforms for educational and research programs on marine science, climate change, etc., for students. Support vehicles (food carts, educational trailers, restrooms, etc.) can be wheeled onto the bridge as events demand. BRIDGE AS DOCK The bridge can also become a mid-harbor floating dock. Its pontoons allow boats from around New England to berth there so visitors can disembark onto the bridge. A TYPOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION The Northern Avenue Bridge remains a bridge to Seaport, but it can readily be sent afloat. It sits on six perpendicular pontoons with small motors coordinated to power and navigates its motion. A structural web of steel supports elevates it, creating a habitable space between the bridge’s underside and pontoons. WHAT HAPPENS TO FORT POINT CHANNEL WHEN THE FLOATING BRIDGE IS ON CRUISE? For three seasons, the bridge’s main structure will be on cruise, leaving a gap in the span across Fort Point Channel. This void will be filled by two of the bridge’s landside segments to reestablish its pedestrian connection between Boston Proper and the Seaport (see diagrams). Assisted by two concealed cranes on the relocated granite bulwark foundations, the shorter and otherwise stationary bridge segments are swiveled into position on pontoons to create a new pedestrian crossing. This is made possible because the current concrete-granite circular-base pivot will be removed. During the three seasons where the bridge is floating out in the harbor, the four segments of the bridge will be strung together, and the two temporary central sections will float and bob with the tides as they rise and fall. When it’s winter home-port, the bridge is reconnected to the four stationary sections. If boats need to traverse Fort Point Channel, the bridge can be maneuvered out of the way, powered by its pontoon engines. DESTINATIONS – PORTS OF CALL While the Floating Bridge would remain in its “home port” on Fort Point Channel in the winter, the remaining three seasons offer it rich options for ports of call for weeks or months at a time. The choice of these locations is informed as much by their historical significance. 1. Fort Point Channel - Winter 2.Charlestown Navy Yard - Spring: The bridge will be positioned on the USS Constitution’s wharf. 3. Long Wharf: - Summer: The bridge would temporarily extending State Street deeper into the harbor, as a symbol of the history of Boston’s most significant street-wharf extension. New England Aquarium and North End festival events could be coordinated with this location. 4. Boston Harbor (July 4th) - Summer: Anchored strategically (and safely) in a central location in Boston’s Harbor, the Floating Bridge serves as a dock and harbor-based platform for cultural and festive activities. 5. Spectacle Island - Summer: With the city as a dramatic backdrop, the approach and anchoring of the bridge to the island’s wharf give an already remarkable destination to another visual dimension. 6. East Boston Piers Park - Fall: The bridge is anchored to Piers Park, offering East Boston residents a remarkable setting for recreational, cultural and educational events.