Editing Tobin Bridge (section)

====Charlestown viaduct====
[[File:Chelsea Bridge viaduct drawing, August 1894.png|thumb|left|An 1894 drawing of the viaduct]]
The [[Boston and Lowell Railroad]] (B&L) purchased the Mystic River Railroad, an unbuilt [[paper railroad]], in 1871. It constructed the line from [[East Somerville station#History|Milk Row station]] around Charlestown to a new freight terminal built on filled land in the Mystic River between the two channels.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fno3AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA24 |chapter=Report of a Committee of the City Government of Lowell |title=Report of the Directors of the Boston and Lowell Railroad Corporation for the Year 1871 |pages=24, 25 |first1=John W. |last1=Smith |first2=Amos B. |last2=French |first3=Addison |last3=Putnam |year=1867 |publisher=Boston and Lowell Railroad |via=Google Books}}</ref> After a legal battle with the Lynn and Boston Railroad about [[frog war|the right to cross its tracks]], the B&L extended the branch across the Mystic Bridge, allowing ships to dock without passing through any bridges.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74235499/the-boston-globe/ |title=Railroad Crossings |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=August 5, 1872 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74235577/the-boston-globe/ |title=The Courts |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=January 6, 1874 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As the B&L and its successor [[Boston and Maine Railroad]] (B&M) expanded Mystic Wharf in the 1880s, replacing the middle section of the bridge with a roadway on filled land, the grade crossings became a significant inconvenience and hazard to bridge traffic.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74235610/the-boston-globe/ |title=On Chelsea Bridge |newspaper=Boston Daily Globe |date=December 31, 1882 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The railroad's construction of transatlantic port facilities, including a [[grain elevator]] and coal depot, along with additional crossings of the bridge road brought the issue to a head in 1892.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74296961/the-boston-globe/ |title=Chelsea's Aldermen Scored |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 2, 1892 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> That June, the state legislature passed an act authorizing Chelsea to pursue elimination of the grade crossings. The B&M was to pay 65% of the cost, the Lynn and Boston Railroad 5%, and the state 30% (of which part would be in turn paid by Boston and Chelsea).<ref>{{cite book |title=Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court in the Year 1892 |pages=392–394 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass1892mass/page/392/mode/2up |chapter=Chapter 374: An Act Related to the Abolition of Grade Crossings on Chelsea Bridge and Chelsea Bridge Avenue in the City of Boston |year=1892 |publisher=Massachusetts General Court |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Negotiations between the B&M, the Lynn and Boston, and the cities of Boston and Chelsea took place in 1893 over plans to raise the street onto a viaduct over the rail yard. The B&M was willing to build a viaduct with a wooden roadway {{convert|40|feet}} wide, but the other parties insisted on a {{convert|50|feet}}-wide roadway with a granite deck.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74298618/the-boston-globe/ |title=Chelsea Bridge Hearing |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=January 31, 1893 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

A temporary south span and roadway opened on May 1, 1894, allowing construction of the viaduct to begin. This was closed to all but streetcar traffic on May 1, 1895. Streetcars began using the new viaduct on August 4, 1895, and it opened to general traffic on December 29. The viaduct was {{convert|2777|feet}} long and raised about {{convert|20|feet}} above the old grade, with a {{convert|45|feet|adj=on}}-wide roadway and {{convert|8|feet|adj=on}}-wide sidewalk.<ref name=aug1894 /> Masonry piers spaced {{convert|70|feet}} apart supported the iron viaduct, which cost $600,000 ({{inflation|US-GDP|450000|1894|r=-5|fmt=eq}}) to construct. A perpendicular ramp led from the viaduct to the rail yard below.<ref name=aug1894>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74391470/the-boston-globe/ |title=Viaduct to carry Chelsea traffic |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=August 27, 1894 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> As part of the project, the north draw span was replaced by a [[retractile drawbridge]] and widened by {{convert|8-10|feet}} to just under {{convert|45|feet}}.<ref name=relief>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74391590/the-boston-globe/ |title=Immense Relief |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 30, 1895 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=case />