page_title: Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Braga Bridge in Fall River, Massachusetts, under construction.
context_page_description: The Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, also known as the Braga Bridge, is a through truss bridge that carries Interstate 195 over the Taunton River between the town of Somerset and the city of Fall River, near the mouth of the Quequechan River at the confluence with Mount Hope Bay. At just over a mile long, it is one of the longest bridges in Massachusetts. Opened to traffic in 1966, it provides an important link between Providence, Rhode Island, New Bedford, and Cape Cod.
context_section_description: Planning began in the early 1950s for a new bridge to ease the congestion of the nearby Slade's Ferry and Brightman Street Bridges, as well as to carry the proposed Cape Cod Expressway over the Taunton River. The original plan called for a "high level bridge" to be located much further north, near what is now the Veterans Memorial Bridge, with a highway passing through the north end of the city in a direct line to Wareham. In 1959, the role of the new bridge was changed to carrying the new Interstate 195 over the Taunton River, connecting Providence and New Bedford. Construction of the bridge started in 1959 and finished in the spring of 1966. The bridge was named after Charles M. Braga, a Fall River native of Portuguese American descent who was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
caption: The Braga Bridge under construction
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