Not so temporary bridge

Five years standing, the steel behemoth on the Fore won't be replaced any time soon

The USS Salem, a heavy cruiser that serves as a shipbuilding museum, is docked to the left of the temporary Fore River Bridge on the Quincy side. (Globe Staff Photo / Matthew J. Lee)

South Shore motorists have grown familiar with the temporary bridge that spans the Fore River on Route 3A. And after five years of traveling over the crooked steel structure, many are wondering when - or if - a permanent bridge connecting Weymouth and Quincy will ever be built.

The answer: It will, but not any time soon.

It will probably be 2020 before the "temporary" bridge is retired and a new, permanent one ready for service, according to MassHighway spokesman Adam Hurtubise.

Design work has begun on the new bridge, with construction to start in 2016 and estimated to take four years. The estimated cost is $150 million. The bridge will be either a vertical lift bridge (similar to the one there now), officials say, or a drawbridge-style structure known as a double-leaf bascule. The exact style will be determined during the design phase.

Meanwhile, more than 36,000 vehicles a day continue to use the temporary vertical-lift bridge, which spans a busy shipping channel. Whenever an oil tanker or barge needs to pass by, the mid-section of the bridge raises straight up, halting traffic for at least 15 minutes, and often longer.

This happens about 550 times a year, or roughly 10 times per week, much to the chagrin of Route 3A commuters and area residents.

"You can tell when the bridge is up because traffic backs up all the way from Weymouth Landing to Hayward Street," said David B. Oliva, chairman of the East Braintree Civic Association. "It's a mess."

Oliva, who lives off of Quincy Avenue, said he prefers taking back roads to avoid what he calls "that monstrosity over there."

"It's hideous," he said. "What's scary is, we don't know what's going to replace it."

Plans had been discussed since the 1980s to renovate and rebuild the Fore River Bridge, a bascule that dated to 1936. Then, about seven years ago, engineers determined that it had deteriorated so much that it was beyond repair. As an interim solution, MassHighway erected the "temporary" bridge, a $60 million, four-lane span designed to last 15 years.

The towering structure - which, with its 10,000 panel pins and 60,000 structural bolts, has the look of a large Erector Set project - took about five years to complete, from design to finish. The New Jersey-based manufacturer, Acrow Corp., described the bridge as "one of the heaviest and longest of its kind." It opened to traffic in late 2003.

"We will inspect and repair the temporary as necessary, just as we would with any other bridge," said Hurtubise about the likelihood that the temporary bridge won't be retired until 2020.

From 2004 to 2006 there were 11 crashes on the bridge, according to data supplied by MassHighway. During that same period, there were six crashes at the rotary on the Quincy side of the bridge.

Over the past decade, there has been much debate over finding a suitable - and permanent - replacement. At one time, highway officials discussed building a towering fixed-span bridge that would stand 175 feet high to provide enough room for large vessels to pass underneath. Another possible option they considered was building a tunnel beneath the Fore River.

Ultimately, MassHighway has decided to go with a brand-new vertical-lift bridge or a double-leaf bascule, according to Hurtubise. The height of the permanent bridge will depend on which style is chosen, he said.

"There will not be a tunnel," Hurtubise said in an e-mail. "If a vertical lift bridge is selected, the vertical clearance in the open position shall be a minimum of 175 feet. If it's a bascule bridge [i.e., if it's the kind that opens like a drawbridge], then the vertical clearance will not be an issue."

MassHighway is negotiating a design contract with STV Inc., a national engineering and construction firm that has offices in Boston. The design contract is expected to be finalized within six months, Hurtubise said.

MassHighway officials estimate it will take two years for the project to reach the 25 percent design stage. A public hearing will be held when they reach that point, according to Hurtubise.

Contracting for the final design, and then completing the design, permitting, and right-of-way issues will take another three years, Hurtubise said. The construction job is scheduled to be advertised in October 2015, he said.

Hurtubise said the permanent bridge will probably have four lanes and measure approximately 1,323 feet in length, spanning roughly one quarter of a mile. Previously, there had been discussions about removing the rotary on the Quincy side, but it's possible that the rotary will remain in place.

"The intent is to minimize the impacts to keep the rotary," he said. "We will know more once we choose a bridge type and study the impacts to roadway geometrics."

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.