Decorative trim from Longfellow Bridge missing

September 4, 2008 05:57 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

A large quantity of cast-iron decorative trim for the Longfellow Bridge has gone missing from the state storage yard where it was being stored while the bridge undergoes repairs, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation said today.

The DCR said that about 2,347 linear feet of the trim had disappeared from the Stoneham Labor Yard -- and it had asked the district attorney's office to investigate.

"We at DCR are shocked and outraged by the disappearance of this historic metalwork, a unique feature of the Longfellow Bridge that we planned to restore along with the bridge," DCR Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr. said in a statement. "We take this very seriously."

Sullivan urged anyone with information on the incident to come forward. He said other storage yards were being reviewed to ensure that other DCR property is secure.

Between Sept. 20 and Oct. 9, about 3,647 linear feet of the decorative parapet coping was removed from the outside edge of the bridge to make way for repairs. The state planned to refurbish the sections and reattach them.

Sections that were 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, 3.8 inches thick, and weighed 350 pounds were placed onto trucks. They were stacked in piles of 13 or 14 at the yard. As recently as three weeks ago, all the sections appeared to be there.

DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox had no comment on what might have happened to the trim, noting that an investigation was under way.