Chesapeake Bay is one of the busiest areas in the United States because it covers an area that is surrounded by some of the busiest cities in the United States. Unfortunately, the only way to take advantage of the strategic location that is the Chesapeake Bay is to build a bridge connecting the different landmasses surrounding the bay area. That way, transportation both of commodities and of passengers commuting to different communities and work areas can be faster, more efficient, and most importantly, more convenient. After all, transportation is one of the most important driving forces of an economy.
An inefficient transportation system often leads to economic drawbacks and even downturns and so one of the best ways to solve economic hurdles is to make improvements in the transportation system. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is one of the steps that the government has done to improve the system of transportation.
The bridge’s history can be traced to as early as the 1880s when the first initial plans to build a bridge connecting the different landmasses in the Chesapeake Bay area were conveyed . Evidently, however, the initial plans did not push through. Some of the main reasons behind the failed attempt include lack of proper funding and support from the local government and the relatively low level of demand for bridges at that time. Over the next few years or even decades, proposals to build a bridge connecting the cities surrounding the bay area were submitted. None of them however received the right amount of support and funding from investors and or the government. Finally, however, one proposal to build the bridge was approved and investors started pouring in finances to fund the transportation project.
Unfortunately, however, liquidation movements were halted following the great depression that happened in 1929. Before the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the main mode of transportation was ferries. The use of ferries was fairly effective except that the more modern business models in the 20th century demanded for a much faster and more efficient means of transporting goods and people from one part of the area to another.
It was in 1938 when the construction of the bridge was formally announced after being approved by the senate. Again, the construction was postponed only to be resumed in 1947 because of the United States’ participation in the Second World War. After some five years, the construction was finally completed in 1952. The first wave of cars arrived at the bridge and used it to cross the bay water. Being the third longest bridge in the world and the longest continuous over the water bridge made of steel in the world, it was a sight to see.
The construction and operation of the bridge was a huge success as evidenced by the fact that the traffic or usage of the bridge grew exponentially just after a few months of finishing the construction. In 1957, a proposal to expand the bridge was passed, mainly as a result of increasing traffic volumes. The original proposal was to construct two additional bridges, the first option was in southern Maryland and the second option was in Baltimore; the other option involved the idea of expanding the existing bridge—this was the one chosen by the representatives.
The new set of construction orders to expand the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was initiated in 1969. The construction to expand it finally got finished in 1973. Today, a lot of people still rely on the connection that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge establishes between the different landmasses at the Chesapeake Bay area for transportation because certainly, the travel time between these landmasses have been greatly reduced ever since the bridge has been put up. Some reports also suggested that the construction of the bridge has led to the easing up of intra-city traffic congestion.
Because of the nature of the bridge, the relatively high level of occurrence of high intensity winds, and the absence of hard shoulders in the bridge’s periphery, a lot of motorists consider the Chesapeake Bay Bridge as one of the most dangerous and scariest bridges in the planet . The local government recognizes this and this is why the bridge actually gets closed whenever there are forecasted extreme weather conditions—in order to protect the motorists and prevent any untoward accident.
In general, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is one fascinating work of architecture and also of economics because firstly, it has done a great purpose of connecting the different cities in the Chesapeake Bay area and it has a unique and a slightly scary and at the same time, dangerous design. Its length shore to shore is between 4.33 and 4.35 miles of roughly 7 kilometers . It has a total of six lanes after the expansion from two lanes each way. A lot of failed attempts to construct a bridge the size of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge may have failed in the past but after several years of observation, it can be said that the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is worth the wait.
Works Cited
Maryland State Highway Administration. "highway Location Reference: Anne Arundel County." Maryland State Highway Administration (2008).
Maryland Transportation Authority. "The William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge." Maryland Transportation Authority (2007).
Ventura, M. "World's Scariest Bridges." Travel and Leisure (2010).
