A NEW BOURNE BRIDGE FOR A WIDER CANAL: In 1928, Congress directed the Army Corps of Engineers to widen and deepen the Cape Cod Canal. The Corps also was charged with rebuilding the two highway bridges and one railroad bridge connecting Cape Cod with the U.S. mainland. On September 6, 1933, the Public Works Administration (PWA) authorized the financing and construction of the three bridges under emergency legislation signed by President Franklin Roosevelt. Work on the bridges began three months later.
Like the Sagamore Bridge, its twin two and one-half miles to the east, the Bourne Bridge was built as a steel-arch span providing 616 feet of clearance between piers and a 135-foot vertical clearance. This accommodation for larger ships - and particularly Naval vessels - was critical. The Corps also accommodated the growing vehicular traffic of the 1930's by providing four lanes, double the vehicular capacity of the original Bourne Bridge. Along with the elimination of the need for bridge openings, the new four-lane fixed span reduced travel times drastically over the old two-lane bascule span.
The main difference between the Bourne and Sagamore bridges is that the Bourne Bridge had a longer approach. It measures 2,384 feet from end to end, 976 feet longer than the Sagamore Bridge. The Bourne Bridge also has a four-foot-wide pedestrian walkway, something that was not built into the design of the Sagamore Bridge.
The Bourne and Sagamore bridges were dedicated and opened to traffic on June 22, 1935. The Bourne Bridge was awarded as the "most beautiful bridge built during 1934" from the American Institute of Steel Construction.
MAINTAINING THE SPAN: The Corps began a six-year project to rehabilitate the Bourne and Sagamore bridges in 1980. The $20 million project included deck replacement, replacing of hanger cables, repaving, repainting, and installation of 12-foot-high suicide fences.
SOURCES: "Proposed Route 25 and Route 28: Final Environmental Impact and Section 4(f) Statement," Federal Highway Administration and Massachusetts Department of Public Works (1977); "Ideas Abound for Solving Cape Gridlock" by James Kinsella, The Standard-Times (10/29/2000); "Cape Cod Canal Bridges," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2002); Massachusetts Department of Transportation; Steve Alpert; Alexander Svirsky.