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The Chesapeake City Bridge carries Maryland Route 213 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Chesapeake City, Maryland. There are two undivided traffic lanes and one sidewalk on the east side of the bridge. It was built in 1949 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a high-level canal crossing. An older vertical lift drawbridge was destroyed on July 28, 1942 after being struck by the tanker Franz Klasen. The bridge is identical in appearance to the old St. Georges Bridge in Delaware (they were constructed roughly at the same time) except for the number of lanes.
[edit] Vertical lift span
The Chesapeake City vertical lift span was constructed between 1924 and 1928 . The bridge carried Maryland Route 213, connecting George Street on the south side of the canal with Lock Street on the north. Following the destruction of the bridge, the new high-level bridge was constructed approximately 500 feet to the west. Maryland Route 213 was diverted to the new bridge, while the surface streets leading to the former bridge site were resigned as Maryland Route 537. This lift bridge itself was a replacement of an earlier wooden swing bridge. The replacement was necessitated by the expansion of the canal in the 1920s.
The remains of the vertical lift bridge across the bow of the tanker
Franz Klasen.
[edit] See also
Coordinates: 39°31′45″N 75°48′50″W / 39.529053, -75.813920
[edit] Further reading
- The Day the Ship Knocked the Bridge Down: Where Were You? by Robert Hazel, Rare Harmony Publishing.
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