Editing Longfellow Bridge (section)

==Design==
[[Image:Longfellow Bridge 3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The main piers have sculptures that represent the prows of [[Viking ship]]s.]]
Longfellow Bridge is a combination railway and highway bridge. It is {{convert|105|ft|m}} wide, {{convert|1767|ft|6|in|m}} long between abutments, and nearly one-half mile in length, including abutments and approaches. It consists of eleven steel arch spans supported on ten masonry piers and two massive abutments. The arches vary in length from {{convert|101|ft|6|in}} at the abutments to {{convert|188|ft|6|in}} at the center, and in rise from {{convert|8|ft|6|in}} to {{convert|26|ft|6|in}}.  Headroom under the central arch is {{convert|26|ft}} at mean high water.

The two large central piers, {{convert|188|ft}} long and {{convert|53|ft|6|in}} wide,<ref name=jackson /> feature four carved, ornamental stone towers<!-- that provide stairway access to pedestrian passageways beneath the bridge-->. The towers are ornamented with the prows of [[Viking ship]]s, carved in granite. They refer to a [[Eben Norton Horsford#Vikings|purported voyage]] by [[Leif Eriksson]] up the Charles River circa 1000 AD, promoted at the time by Harvard professor [[Eben Horsford]]. The piers are also decorated with the city seals of Boston and Cambridge.

The Longfellow Bridge provides a panoramic view of the Boston skyline. In commenting on riding the Red Line over the bridge, the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' praised its "view of Boston’s beauty in a single, satisfying gulp".<ref>{{cite news|title=An ode to the view of Boston from a Red Line train crossing the Longfellow Bridge|work=[[Boston Globe]]|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/01/27/metro/an-ode-view-boston-red-line-train-crossing-longfellow-bridge|access-date=2020-01-28}}</ref>
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