Building the Greenbush Line through Hingham

With the opening of the Greenbush Line, I thought I would repost my page documenting the progress of building the MBTA's Greenbush Commuter Railroad Line under Historic Hingham Square during 2005 and the spring of 2006. Another site to be added soon will have photos from the winter of 2006 through the opening of the line on October 31, 2007.

The digging of the 800 foot long, 40 foot deep, and 25 foot wide tunnel trench through Hingham Square took almost 4 years.
Here is an overview of the tunnel's location, courtesy of the MBTA and the Boston Globe:

(Sorry this doesn't work for some Netscape based browsers)
Below are some photos taken in October and December 2005 going from the west toward the east end of the tunnel shaft, October photos courtesy of Charles Malme:
From October, the view from Central Street looking toward the west tunnel portal. The Talbots parking lot is on your right.


Here's a view taken in late December from the opposite direction to above showing the tunnel going underneath Central Street.


From October, here's the view looking east from Main Street down the tunnel cut between North and South Streets.  Note as above the slurry walls and steel roof support beams...


Now a view looking west from South Street toward Main Street showing the transition between the unexcavated and completed tunnel cut...


Here's a view looking east toward Water Street in October from South Street showing tunnel excavation just starting, the slurry wall support beams can be seen on either side...


A December photo shows the tunnel in this area closer to completion


Workers appeared to be ready to dig the last section of tunnel, under South Street, when I visited the area in early January. They plan to wrap up work on this project by early April. The completed tunnel is scheduled to be finished by September 2006. Commuter rail trains are now planned to start running through the tunnel and along the length of the Greenbush line by mid-2007.

Here's a couple additional photos from January showing progress outside of Hingham Square.
This shows the clearing that has taken place along the right-of-way east of the Square near Green Street Court, the bridge carrying Route 3A can be seen in the distance...


Here's a view of the future railway bed west of the Square looking toward downtown between South (to the right) and North Streets...


Finally, here's a map of the Greenbush Line, courtesy of the Boston Globe:

For more information on the Greenbush Line, visit the Following Links:

CBB Greenbush Project Website

Balfour Beatty Greenbush Project Page

The MBTA's Greenbush Project Page

Hingham Greenbush Project Photos at Railroadnews.com (Slow)

History of the Greenbush Line at 959WATD.com

Some other Transportation-Related Pages of Mine:
I-73/74 in North Carolina
North Carolina's Future Interstates
(with 1 new Massachusetts Interstate Idea)

Wonder why someone from North Carolina is the author of a web page about a Massachusetts train project, Go Here.

Comments, questions about any of this? Feel free to Send Me E-mail.

Sources:
Levonson, Michael and Adrienne P. Samuels. 2005. "Some Light at the End of Tunnel Work: Digging Finished under Main Street in Hingham." The Boston Globe. November 18.
McGee, Joe. 2005. "Daylight Under Hingham Square: Workers Digging Greenbush Tunnel Connect Both Sides." The Patriot Ledger. November 7.
Meyer, Carol Britton. 2006. "End of Downtown Train Tunnel Work In Sight." The Hingham Journal. February 23.

Disclaimer: This site is presented as an educational resource and is not affiliated with the MBTA, Cashman/Balfour Beatty Construction, Inc. or Duke University.

Site Created: 11/20/05, Last updated 3/2/06, reposted 10/31/07
Copyright © 2005, 2006 - Robert H. Malme
All Rights Reserved