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CAMBRIDGE — For years, collections of tents sprung up on a strip of land near the Boston University Bridge along the Charles River. Strewn with tarps, camping supplies, garbage, propane tanks, and needles, the small patch of riverbank was home to about a dozen people at any given moment.In October, a fire spread rapidly in the campsite, igniting the gas tanks and sending up a thick cloud of black smoke that could be seen on either side of the river. Traffic was shut for hours. No one was hurt, but 10 people were displaced, and in the aftermath, fire officials said damage to the land was extensive.Five months later, there are no more tents, no more people; instead the sloping embankment is covered with hundreds of pointy rocks and boulders that make it even more uncomfortable to sleep on the ground.The state said the change is intended to help fight erosion and protect the bridge. But advocates for the homeless see the jagged additions to the terrain, which cover nearly every square foot of ground with sharp edges, as a not-so-subtle attempt to discourage people from sleeping there. ...
