historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...
historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...
historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...
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SECTIONTHREEHistoric Contextresponse to the growing impatience <strong>of</strong> Maryland‘s residents with inadequate and obsoleteroadways. The ―Go Roads‖ program, a 5-year program, was instituted that concentrated onprimary <strong>highway</strong> construction. It was expected that almost 100 miles <strong>of</strong> primary and interstate<strong>highway</strong>s could be constructed for each <strong>of</strong> the five years. The ―Go Roads‖ program had as itsgoal the extension <strong>of</strong> modern primary <strong>highway</strong>s or expressways into every region <strong>of</strong> the Statewith urban areas being served by beltways (State Roads Commission 1960:3).Bridge construction in Maryland <strong>between</strong> <strong>1948</strong> and 1960 grew rapidly along with thisintensification <strong>of</strong> <strong>highway</strong> construction. In this period, 586 <strong>bridges</strong> were constructed on state andcounty roads and 203 on interstates. Maryland <strong>bridges</strong> won several ―aesthetic bridge‖ contests inthe period. For example the Shell Road Ramp Bridge at the entrance to the Baltimore HarborTunnel was awarded ―First Honorable Mention‖ by the American Institute <strong>of</strong> Steel Constructionin 1958 (LaViness: 138). However, the design <strong>of</strong> <strong>bridges</strong> in this period was relativelyhomogeneous and was driven primarily by cost, constructability, future maintenance, andenvironmental concerns. Bridges in this period exploited the latest technologies, yet the use <strong>of</strong>innovative and artistic designs was not common. Maryland <strong>bridges</strong> in this period can bedescribed as a group as being designed in a way to exhibit a clean, uncluttered appearance withminimal decoration, many <strong>of</strong> them with elements <strong>of</strong> the streamlined form characteristic <strong>of</strong> theModerne style <strong>of</strong> the 1930s and 1940s.Two significant themes <strong>of</strong> bridge building in this period were the development <strong>of</strong> high-level<strong>bridges</strong> and the linkage <strong>of</strong> formerly isolated communities and regions <strong>of</strong> the state by new<strong>bridges</strong>. As has been discussed, the development <strong>of</strong> a modern road system in the state wascontingent on <strong>bridges</strong> that crossed the Chesapeake Bay and other bodies <strong>of</strong> water withoutimpeding river traffic. By the 1950s and 1960s, motorists no longer patiently waited whiledraw<strong>bridges</strong> moved up and down for water traffic. The solution at the widest and most activewater crossings was the construction <strong>of</strong> high-level <strong>bridges</strong>, usually <strong>built</strong> away from populatedareas because <strong>of</strong> their long approaches. Since tall <strong>bridges</strong> were also needed to span <strong>highway</strong>s,railways and urban neighborhoods that could not be demolished, the construction <strong>of</strong> tall <strong>bridges</strong>with long approaches became the most practical way to make both the road and river systemswork efficiently (LaViness 1958: 139-140).Historian Charles LaViness discusses high-level <strong>bridges</strong> as a distinguishing bridge type in thisperiod in his book A History <strong>of</strong> Road Building in Maryland (1958). Among the important <strong>bridges</strong>from his perspective were the ―four high-level <strong>bridges</strong> [<strong>built</strong>] across the Potomac,‖ especially theKeyser-McCool Bridge in Alleghany County that spans the Potomac, two railroads, and portions<strong>of</strong> the towns on each side <strong>of</strong> the river. He also mentions the ―Blue Bridge‖ in downtownCumberland, the US 50 bridge <strong>built</strong> in 1953 across the Severn River, and seven others.Other examples <strong>of</strong> significant high-level <strong>bridges</strong> in this period include the MD 213 Bridge(Chesapeake City Bridge). The US Army Corps <strong>of</strong> Engineers constructed the Chesapeake CityBridge in 1949 after ocean-going tankers damaged the earlier steel lift bridge at the location. Alift bridge, <strong>built</strong> in 1927, was on the main automobile route through town (MD 213), andalthough it was an improvement to the earlier bridge (as it allowed large ships to access thecanal) it was a hindrance to vehicular traffic forced to wait for ships to pass beneath it (Legler2002: 44; Pratt Free Library 1933). The high-level, fixed-span bridge <strong>built</strong> by the Corps in 1949spanned the canal at such a height that most vessels easily passed beneath its span.\15-SEP-11\\ 4-16