Project History

Built in 1908, the Northern Avenue Bridge was in service for over a century before it was closed in December 2014. As the City of Boston planned to reconstruct the iconic bridge, it invited leaders and community members to participate in honoring history and restoring the structure.

A recent assessment of the structural integrity of the bridge made it clear that the bridge is structurally unstable and becoming a growing safety concern. Many pieces of the bridge that are critical to its structure have deteriorated beyond repair. As the bridge continues to deteriorate, local and complete failures become more likely, especially as the bridge is exposed to stress during storms. Due to the bridge’s current condition, the City has initiated a project to remove the bridge superstructure. This proactive project is required due to the ongoing deterioration and to ensure the safety of the public and users of the waterway. The superstructure removal does not preclude any future crossing.

The City has started a formal process for removing the Northern Avenue Bridge superstructure.  

The process began with filing detailed permitting applications with local, state and federal agencies, including the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC), MA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Boston Conservation Commission and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and others.      

Boston Public Works Department (PWD) is leading a team of consultants in planning and implementing removal of the superstructure spanning Fort Point Channel

First Steps: Permitting

The Boston Public Works Department (PWD) submitted a Project Notification Form (PNF) to the Massachusetts Historical Commission and filed with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposing to remove the Northern Avenue Bridge superstructure spanning the Fort Point Channel. These are the first of several permitting actions PWD will undertake before the superstructure can be removed.

The City formally filed the Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) on April 16, 2025 as well as the Section 408 application on July 11, 2025 with the USACE, which officially initiated this permitting process. On October 20, 2025, as part of the Section 106 Consultation process, USACE sent a letter along with a condition report and a set of draft deconstruction plans to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).  The City expects to receive a response letter from Massachusetts Historic Commission soon.

A Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) has been submitted to the Boston Conservation Commission.

Click here to view a list of relevant project documents.