Restoration of the 106-year-old Longfellow Bridge, which spans the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, evokes Rosie the Riveter's World War II era, when hot metal pins connected structural steel on bridges, skyscrapers and ship hulls.

A joint venture of J.F. White, Skanska and Consigli began work in July 2013 on the $255-million design-build project, scheduled for a November 2016 completion. The goal is to replace structural elements while retaining the aesthetics of the 2,135-ft-long bridge, which has 11 open-spandrel steel-arch spans, plus two steel-girder approach spans at the Cambridge end. With a deck width of 105 ft, it carries trains, vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.The granite masonry piers support four towers that inspired the nickname "Salt and Pepper" (ENR 6/11/07 p. 16).