historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...

SECTIONTHREEHistoric ContextHighway departments began examining such factors as road conditions, the volume and nature ofhighway traffic, highway life spans, and future highway needs.In 1937, the Maryland General Assembly authorized the SRC to formulate a comprehensive planfor the construction of bridges and tunnels across major bodies of water in Maryland. The intentof the plan was to provide north-south arterial roadways that would bypass congested urbanareas. Funding for this program came from state revenue bonds that were to be repaid from tolls.The SRC hired the J. E. Greiner Company (Greiner), a Baltimore-based engineering design firmwith an international reputation in construction, to develop a proposal for bridge constructionacross the state. The resulting report, Maryland’s Primary Bridge Program, recommended abridge across the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace; a bridge across or tunnel under thePatapsco River between the Fairfield and Canton sections of Baltimore City; a bridge across thePotomac River at Ludlow‘s Ferry; and a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay (Bruder 2000:11-12). These vital crossings would require the construction of long multi-span bridges (or possiblya tunnel in the case of the Patapsco River site). Congress ratified the plan in 1938 under itsregulatory powers over navigable waterways and the Public Works Administration promptlyawarded financial aid to the SRC to build the Susquehanna and Potomac River Bridges, butdeferred action on the remaining two projects until after the war (Greiner 1944:2).The SRC chose Greiner to plan the Susquehanna River crossing. The firm designed an elevatedbridge to accommodate the shipping traffic still active on the river. The bridge projectcomplemented improvements underway to heavily traveled US 40 between Baltimore and theDelaware State line in Cecil County, where a relocation of the alignment was necessary toeliminate sharp curves, reduce grades, extend sight lines, and widen the roadway for dualization.Greiner‘s design called for a steel three-span bridge, consisting of one through-truss and twopartial through-trusses, while the remainder of the bridge would utilize deck trusses or deckgirders (Bruder 2000:13-14). The total length of the four-lane bridge was 1.5 miles and crossedthe Susquehanna River from a point near Perryville in Cecil County to a point near Havre deGrace in Harford County. The bridge opened in 1940 as the Susquehanna River Toll Bridge. In1986, it was renamed for Thomas J. Hatem (1925-1985) who represented Harford County in theHouse of Delegates from 1955 to 1958.Greiner also designed the Potomac River Bridge (US 301) between Charles County, Marylandand King George County, Virginia. The bridge opened in December 1940 and enabled travelersfrom eastern and southern Maryland heading to Virginia and points further south to bypassWashington, D.C. where they had previously crawled through along US 1. Traffic engineerspredicted the bridge would carry an average of 136,000 vehicles-per-year during the first fiveyears. During 1942, the traffic volume surpassed 171,600 vehicles; four years later, the countclimbed to 453,900 annually. Traffic peaked at 3.2 million in 1964 but dropped by a third thefollowing year after the opening of the Capital Beltway (I 495), which allowed southboundmotorists to quickly travel around Washington, cross the Potomac River along the WoodrowWilson Bridge, and continue south into Virginia (St. Mary‘s Today 2004). In 1968, the US 301Bridge was renamed the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge to honor the governor of Maryland(1935-1939) during whose administration the bridge was planned and built.John Greiner‘s partner, Herschel Allen, developed and patented the ―Potomac Pier‖ for the NiceBridge project. His pier design eliminated the need for a coffer dam by placing a steel form onthe floor of the river and then driving piles through the form. Additional piles were attached and\15-SEP-11\\ 4-3