Fort McHenry Tunnel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fort McHenry Tunnel | |
|---|---|
 Northbound in the E-ZPass lane. |
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| Official name | Fort McHenry Tunnel |
| Carries | 8 lanes of I-95 |
| Crosses | Patapsco River |
| Locale | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Maintained by | Fort McHenry |
| Vertical clearance | 12 feet 6 inches |
| Opening date | November 23, 1985 |
| Toll | $2.00 |
The Fort McHenry Tunnel is one of two tunnels that carry traffic underneath Baltimore Harbor. It is named for Fort McHenry, under which it passes.
The tunnel, opened on November 23, 1985, closed a gap in the East Coast’s most important interstate route, Interstate 95, between Maine and Florida. It also is the largest underwater highway tunnel and the widest vehicular tunnel ever built by the immersed-tube method. At the time of its opening it was the most expensive underwater tunnel project in the United States, but has since been surpassed by the Big Dig project in Boston. The tunnel is one of seven toll facilities operated and maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority.
The current toll rate for cars is $2.00, paid in both directions. Vehicles with more than two axles pay an additional $2.00 per extra axle. The tunnel has several dedicated E-ZPass lanes in its toll plaza in both the northbound and southbound directions.
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[edit] Background
Original plans called for an eight-lane bridge across the Baltimore Harbor to complete the final segment of Interstate 95 in Maryland. However, it was determined that a bridge would have had a negative environmental and aesthetic impact on the nearby National Monument and Historic Site at Fort McHenry and the neighboring residential communities of Locust Point and Fells Point. An eight-lane 1.7-mile (2.7 km) tunnel was proposed as an alternative. The tunnel extends from the Locust Point peninsula, passes south of Fort McHenry under the harbor navigational channel and rises to grade in the Canton industrial area of Southeast Baltimore. The toll plaza is located on the Canton side, north of the harbor.
The alignment near Fort McHenry and below the shipping channel required the design of the world’s first tunnel sections that curved both vertically and horizontally. The tunnel sections were manufactured in Port Deposit, Maryland, and were floated to the site using tugboats.
The tunnel was built using the open-trench method, in which prefabricated tunnel sections were sunk in a trench dredged in the harbor’s bottom, and the sections were joined underwater. A dredge-disposal site for materials removed from the tunnel trench was created at the nearby Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore Seagirt Marine Terminal, resulting in 136 acres (55 ha) of usable new land. The Tunnel was opened on time and under budget, and continues to be a vital transportation link in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Before and during the Civil War, a tunnel ran from the B & O Railroad's Camden Station south to the north side of Federal Hill and then to Fort McHenry. Houses in the Federal Hill neighborhood collapsed when the brick lined tunnel collapsed. This tunnel was probably built by the military and fell from use after the Civil War.
[edit] Notes
- The tunnel was constructed from June 1980 to November 1985, at a cost of $750 million
- The tunnel's annual traffic in 2003 was 44.1 million vehicles, approx 115,000 vehicles AADT
Sources: Maryland Transportation Authority
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Maryland Transportation Authority, Fort McHenry Tunnel website
- Fort_McHenry_Tunnel, by Roads to the Future
- Steve Anderson's DCroads.net: Fort McHenry Tunnel (I-95)
- Fort McHenry Tunnel is at coordinates Coordinates:
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| Maryland Transportation Authority facilities | |
|---|---|
| Bridges | Chesapeake Bay | Hatem (Susquehanna) | Key (Outer Harbor) | Nice (Potomac) | Tydings |
| Tunnels | Baltimore Harbor | Fort McHenry |
| Highways | Harbor Tunnel Thruway | JFK Memorial Highway | I-95 in Baltimore | I-395 | ICC (future) |
| Bridges and tunnels in Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Patapsco River | Hanover Street Bridge - Fort McHenry Tunnel (I-95) - Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (I-895) - Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695) |
| Railroads | Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel (Amtrak) - Union Tunnel (Amtrak) - Howard Street Tunnel (CSX) |
| Other | Orleans Street Viaduct (US 40) |
