NOTES

The photographs were taken between 1993 and 2005 using Fuji 6x9cm cameras unless noted otherwise, almost all in black and white, using various films. Dates that include year, month and day are reliable, although photos taken during the same night bear the same date even if taken after midnight. The photographs appear here in several overlaping categories:

ALL IMAGES BY DATE

This collection includes all the photographs that have been scanned so far, after duplicates and severely flawed images were eliminated. However there are many cases where the same content appears repetitively, with variations in aspect ratio, angle, and lens focal length. A subset of the pictures in this section, subject to further editing, which is ongoing, appears within each of the themed sections. Because the dividing lines between adjacent construction areas are sometimes ambiguous, the same photo may appear in more than one collection.

CASTING BASIN AND FORT POINT CHANNEL

Bringing I90 under the Fort Point Channel to connect to the Ted Williams Tunnel presented an engineering challenge that was solved by excavating a large basin on the eastern side of the Channel and there building a series of tunnel sections that would be floated across to a location where they could be sunk to rest on prepared footings — a technique never before used on this scale. A line of cellular cofferdams separated the Casting Basin from the Channel, removed when necessary to allow tunnel segments to be floated out.

The tunnel sections are designated as eastbound (EB) or westbounb (WB) and numbered starting on the west side of the Channel. In the first phase four sections (EB1, WB1, EB2, WB2) were constructed and delivered. After the basin was again drained and dry, EB3 and WB3 were constructed. Finally a section of fixed tunnel was built within the Casting Basin to connect the Fort Point Channel tunnel to the Seaport Access Road. (The building at 249 A Street, visible in some of the photos, contains the photographer's home and studio.)

ZAKIM BRIDGE AND NEARBY

This collection documents the Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge from early 1999 through completion. Included are photos of the Leverett Circle Connector, ramp structures under construction to the north of the bridge, old ramp structures south of the bridge, and shots taken from the bridge's north tower.

SOUTH BAY

Before I90 reached the Fort Point Channel it had to pass under the railroad tracks serving South Station. To do this without interrupting rail service required an unprecedented use, at this scale, of the technique of tunnel jacking: tunnel sections were literally rammed through the soil beneath the tracks, while the soil was stabillized by freezing. Excavation proceeded gradually at the leading face of each segment, while powerful jacks forced the structure forward. There were three jacked sections, eastbound, westbound, and ramp D. This collection also includes views of the I90/I93 interchange, Vent Building No. 1, and the extensive ramp structures leading south.

TED WILLIAMS TUNNEL AND SEAPORT ACCESS ROAD

The photos in this collection depict the Ted Williams Tunnel itself, and the so-called Seaport Access road extending from the Tunnel to the Casting Basin area.

CENTRAL ARTERY DOWNTOWN

The photos in this collection depict the construction that extends from South Bay north toward the Zakim Bridge, punctuated by the very deep excavation required to pass under the Red Line at South Station, followed by a leap over the Blue Line near Haymarket.

A STREET AND NEARBY

A Street in South Boston is the point where the Seaport Access Road meets the Casting Basin. In this collection are photos of events taking place at A Street, which did not seem to fall confortably into either of the adjacent categories.

VENT BUILDINGS

The vent buildings were both dramatic shapes in themselves, and covenient perches from which to photograph the surrounding scene. In this collection are photographs of Vent Building No. 1, near South Station; No. 3, now enclosed by the Omni Hotel on Atlantic Avenue; No. 5, near the Boston Convention and Exposition Center; and No. 6, built inside the circular cofferdam where the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Seaport Access Road connected.

IRON BRIDGES

Most of the bridges and ramps memorialized in this collection have disappeared, obsolete, disrespected by history.

CRANES AND OTHER TOOLS

Here are the cranes and other machines encountered during the creation of this work.

Note that:
Everywhere on this site, the up
cursor key returns to the next
higher level of abstraction.

FLAT FILES: ZB