Revisiting a Tale of Two Bridges

Back in June, the Globe was forced to print an embarrassing correction after it reported that a three-year-old commuter rail bridge in Scituate would have to be replaced. In fact, a smaller, century-old bridge was going to be rebuilt downstream from the Greenbush Line span.

We were also hoodwinked by the Globe’s erroneous report, and provided a satellite image to clear up any confusion, but the false information keeps coming. A trade publication reported yesterday that the Greenbush commuter bridge is coming down. Here we go again.

Construction Equipment Guide, a 50-year-old publication that covers “industry news, including new equipment applications, major construction projects, personality profiles, job stories and legislation affecting the industry,” put this story online yesterday by James A. Merolla.

A three-year-old bridge on the Greenbush commuter line of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) must be removed and rebuilt, escalating already overrun costs.

Because the 2006 bridge in Scituate did not meet state and federal environmental requirements, the MBTA now must knock it down on the new Greenbush commuter line, adding $5.2 million to the cost of a project that is already approximately $280 million over budget.

Since it’s possible the MBTA suddenly found a flaw in the newer bridge, we emailed MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo to confirm that the Greenbush rail bridge is still sound. He confirms that it is functioning fine and doesn’t need any further work. A spokesman for Jay Cashman, Inc. also confirms that the railroad bridge is fine, and that work on the nearby bridge is almost complete.

Craig Mongeau, the Editor in Chief for Construction Equipment Guide‘s Northeast publication, tells us he’s trying to get to the bottom of the story. He got the piece from Merolla back in August, but held it until this month.

“We have a very confusing mess here,” Mongeau tells Boston Daily. “I’m trying to work with my writer to figure out what his sources are, and why it was reported this way after the Globe’s clarification.”

He’s also examining quotes from MBTA project coordinator James Eng that were used in the piece. The Construction Equipment Guide story directly quotes Eng twice, in the same way the broadsheet’s June story quotes the coordinator.

From the Globe:

Since then, [Eng] told board members, the project on Country Way in North Scituate has been “engineered to death.”

“This is the last major structure in Greenbush,” Eng told MBTA board members, who had asked whether he would be coming back to them to ask for more money for the project. “But I will be back.”

From CEG:

Now that the problems have been identified, the plans for the rebuilt bridge have been “engineered to death” to avoid flooding problems.

“This is the last major structure in Greenbush,” Eng told MBTA board members, who had asked whether he would be coming back to them to ask for more money for the project. “But I will be back.”

So let’s review: The Country Way automobile bridge is being repaired, the Greenbush commuter rail bridge is staying put, and Merolla’s got some explaining to do.
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A Tale of Two Bridges

Satellite image from VirtualEarth