Boston’s Crown Jewel

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and it may have the longest name. What is most memorable about it, however, is its gorgeous design, which has placed it in the company of other modern masterpieces including Calatrava’s Alamillo Bridge (the “harp bridge”) in Seville, Spain, and the Millau Bridge above the Tarn Valley in southern France.

During planning for the Central Artery/Tunnel project (a.k.a. the Big Dig), there were calls to tunnel under the Charles River rather than build a bridge over it. Fortunately, Swiss bridge designer Christian Menn won approval at the eleventh hour for his willowy cable-stayed bridge, a design that ties cables from the roadbed directly to the support towers.

The design is graceful, contemporary, and unlike any other. Asymmetrical, it carries two outer lanes cantilevered on its east side. An additional eight lanes pass through the legs of the twin 91-meter, obelisk-topped, inverted-Y towers that echo the nearby Bunker Hill Monument. At its southern end is the entrance to the Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Tunnel (also major component of the Big Dig), while north of the bridge, I-93 heads toward New Hampshire.

Since opening in 2002, the Zakim bridge has become a Boston icon—the emblem of a project that gave the city a much-needed shot in the arm by easing traffic and improving the flow of commerce. Today, the bridge can be seen often on national news programs as a backdrop to establish location—making it nearly as well known as Boston’s Fenway Park.