Yanni Tsipis is a Boston native who holds degrees in civil engineering and urban planning from MIT. Long fascinated by the history of his hometown, he is the author of two recent books that document the construction of the city’s major highways in the 1950s and early 1960s. His primary areas of interest and expertise are the history of Boston’s transportation infrastructure and historical construction practices and materials.

Yanni recently completed his Master’s degree in civil engineering at MIT, and sits on the editorial board of Civil Engineering Practice, the journal of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. He resides on Beacon Hill and works at Meredith & Grew, a Boston-based real estate services firm.

Yanni’s other publications include:
 
 

	Boston's Bridges (Arcadia 2004) From the days of the old Charles River crossing to the striking new Zakim span, Boston has always been a city of bridges. Flanked by rivers and ocean inlets, at one time Bostonians built more bridges per acre of city land than any other American city. In many cases, these bridges stood as public monuments as much as they served Boston’s transportation needs, and in no other American city can such a dense collection of more diverse bridge types, styles, and ages be found today.  Boston’s Bridges surveys the city’s spans, telling the story of their construction and tracking the evolution in design, materials, and construction techniques, from the 1700s to the present. Drawing on previously unpublished images from the Massachusetts Department of Public Works and City of Boston archives and numerous other sources, Boston’s Bridges is a vivid document of the city’s bridges past and present.
	Boston's Central Artery (Arcadia, 2000) Fifty years ago, the Central Artery snaked its way through Boston, destroying century-old neighborhoods and bustling commercial districts in the very heart of the city. Designed to open Boston’s downtown to convenient car and truck access, the Central Artery opened a three - mile long gash through the nation’s oldest and most historic city, destroying some of the city’s most architecturally significant buildings. By the time the Artery was completed in 1958, many former supporters already realized it was a colossal mistake. This conviction deepened over the years, and today the city is in the midst of the most complex construction project ever undertaken by humankind in an effort to undo some of the damage wrought by the Central Artery. Drawing on recently – uncovered Massachusetts Department of Public Works archives and numerous other sources, Boston’s Central Artery tells the story of the Artery’s construction and of the neighborhoods it destroyed. This book is a vivid document of an era when highways tore through the nation’s downtown centers and displaced thousands of residents and businesses along the way.
	Building the Mass Pike (Arcadia, 2002) Fifty years ago, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its capital city had fallen on hard times. With the region’s railroads in decline and the state’s roads in a state of appalling disrepair, the difficulty of moving people and goods around the state and into its largest port was taking a heavy toll on the state’s economy. The solution came in 1952 from one man and the road he devoted the last decade of his life to building. The man was William Callahan and the road was the Massachusetts Turnpike. Drawing on Turnpike Authority archives never before seen by the public, Building the Mass Pike tells the story of the road’s planning, construction, and impact on the communities through which it passed. Building the Mass Pike is a vivid document of the largest public works project in the state’s history and the firestorm of controversy that surrounded it.