Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
Construction Of the Bridge Beautiful

| corresponding seal of the city of Cam
bridge.
1t is characteristic of the new atti-
tude of many public service corpora
tons toward aesthetic considerations
that the architectural quality of this
bridge, which within a few months will
be opened to the public, has been made
possible largely through the public
spirit and liberality of Boston's street
car system. the Boston Elevated Rail-
way company. The contribution of the
elevated company which will make
use of a portion of the bridge as Of
fering direct line of rapid transit
to Harvard Square, enabled the erec-
tlon OF structure involving the ex-
penditure of two and a half million dol
lars, very considera BILE sum in the
building of a bridge, and one that
would have been beyond the means OF
the suburban city of Cambridge if the
expense had simply been shared with
the city of Boston,
According to the bill which amor
toned the expenses it was provided
that the railway shall pay toward the
construction of said bridge such pro-
portion thereof as shall be rendered
necessary by reason of its being of
additional size and strength for the
use of the elevated road" This quota.
has made possible an attempt to pro-
duce something as fine as any modern
European bridge
or the four car tracks occupying the
middle of the structure, two will be
given over to trains of the new rapid
transit line that is to be begun be-
tween Boston and Cambridge soon
after the completion of the bridge.
These will be on grade across the
bridge, being enclosed from the trolley
car tracks by an iron fence. The mid
die section where the al" tracks run
VIII be an open trestle, which Is much
more satisfactory in a climate subject
to snow and Ice From the Boston side
the trains will come out of a subway
skirtings the northern side of historic
Beacon Hill, and on reaching Cam
bridge they will either again descend
into subway or continue at the ele-
waited level EN- route to the shaded
precincts of Harvard university.
Exceptional though the new West
Boston bridge will be in America, Eu-
rope is filled with bridges which COM
bine a high degree of artistic quail
ity with perfect usefulness. Not that
the continental countries are alto
gether lacking in examples of ugli-
ness and inoongruousness Perhaps
one of the most notable cases is that Of
the oldest of all existing stone bridges,
the Ponte Rotto in Rome, anciently
known as the Pons Aemilius, begun
in 179 b. c., and completed in about
forty years Half Of this bridge was
carried away by a flood in 1867. 1t
was at that time rebuilt from blocks
of stone from the Coliseum, but the
mediaeval builders were less skilful,
and for second time part of the
bridge was swept away. 1t remained
for many years with one end hanging
in the air, much like the ancient bridge
over the Tiber Just before Hora titus
quit holding 1t against all comers. To-
day, however, an iron truss completes
the span, thus combining the solid
beauty of the ancient Roman architec-
ture with the limit of modern uglness.
For the most part, however, Euro
peon bridges Of this generation have
been designed With some reference to
their surroundings and are seldom con-
spicuousy unattractiVe. Across the
Seine at Paris are 32 important bridges,
hardly any one of which Is less inn
posing than the best yet completed
In America. These include the most
celebrated of all, the Pont Notre Dame.
erected in 1900, and the latest of all
to be built, the Exposition bridge, OF
1900 the artistic characteristics of
which were a source of inspiration
to thousands of visitors at the last
great Paris exposition. Many Amer
leans at that time perceived the pos
sibility of good bridge-building in ac-
cordance with modern methods. The
new West Boston bridge viii be a
pioneer in giving expression to that
perception.