Francis Scott Key Bridge (Baltimore)

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, also known as the Outer Harbor Bridge, is a toll bridge spanning the Patapsco River in Maryland. Opened in March 1977 and is named for the author of the Star Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key. The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor. Upon completion, the bridge structure and its approaches became the final links in Interstate 695, also known as the Baltimore Beltway.

Background

In the 1960s Maryland Transportation Authority, concluded there was a need for a second harbor crossing and began planning a single-tube tunnel under the Patapsco River, downstream from the Harbor Tunnel. The proposed site was between Hawkins Point and Sollers Point. Plans also were underway for a drawbridge over Curtis Creek to connect Hawkins Point to Sollers Point.

Contractors took borings of the harbor bottom in the spring of 1969. Bids for construction of the proposed tunnel were opened on July 30, 1970, but price proposals were substantially higher than the engineering estimates. Officials drafted alternative plans, including the concept of a four-lane bridge.

The bridge, at an estimated cost of $110 million, represented the best alternative because it allowed for more traffic lanes and carried lower operating and maintenance costs than a tunnel. In addition, a bridge would provide a route across the Baltimore Harbor for vehicles transporting hazardous materials (these materials are prohibited from both the Baltimore Harbor and Fort McHenry tunnels).

Construction began in 1972, and the bridge opened to traffic on March 23, 1977. Including its connecting approaches, the bridge project is 10.9 miles (17.5 km) in length. Other structures along the thruway include a 0.64-mile (1.03 km) dual-span drawbridge over Curtis Creek and two 0.74-mile (1.19 km) parallel bridge structures that carry traffic over Bear Creek, near Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point plant, this portion of the project not being fully complete till the late 1990s.

Located in an area rich with American history, scholars believe the span crosses within 100 yards (100 m) of the site, marked in the water off the bridge by a stars and striped painted buoy, where Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry on the evening of September 12, 1814. That battle inspired Key to write the words of the Star Spangled Banner. Located just southeast of the bridge are the ruins of Fort Carroll.

There is another bridge called the Francis Scott Key Bridge, located in Washington, DC. It crosses the Potomac River, and links the District to Arlington, Virginia.

Fast Facts

• Construction Dates: 1972 - March 1977
• Cost: $60.3 million
• Annual Traffic: 11.5-million vehicles

Sources: Maryland Transportation Authority

External Link

• Maryland Transportation Authority, Francis Scott Key Bridge website
• Roads to the Future website

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps

See also: Francis Scott Key Bridge (Baltimore), 1814, 1960s, 1969