Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge
| Braga Bridge | |
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Braga Bridge from Somerset, MA in its original green color
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| Coordinates | 41°42′23.62″N 71°09′56.51″W / 41.7065611°N 71.1656972°WCoordinates: 41°42′23.62″N 71°09′56.51″W / 41.7065611°N 71.1656972°W |
| Carries |
 I‑195
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| Crosses | Taunton River |
| Locale | Somerset and Fall River, Massachusetts |
| Official name | Charles M. Braga Jr. Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Continuous through truss, single intersection Warren truss with verticals. Approach spans are plate girders. |
| Total length | 5,780 feet (1,760 m) |
| Width | 101.3 feet (30.9 m) |
| Height | 254 feet (77 m) (Height of towers) |
| Longest span | 840 ft (256 m) |
| Clearance below | 135 feet (41 m) |
| History | |
| Construction cost | $22 million |
| Opened | 1965, 1989 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 80,000 - 100,000 vehicles per day |
 Braga Bridge
Location in Massachusetts
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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.
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.
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