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The Fort McHenry Tunnel is one of two tunnels that carry traffic underneath Baltimore Harbor. It is named for Fort McHenry in which it passes underneath.
The tunnel, opened on November 24, 1985, was the final link in the Northeast corridors most important interstate route, Interstate 95, between New Jersey and Florida. It also is the largest, underwater highway tunnel, as well as the widest vehicular tunnel ever built by the immersed-tube method. At the time of its opening it was the most expensive under water tunnel project in the United States, having since been passed up by The Big Dig project in Boston. The tunnel is one of seven toll facilities operated and maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority.
Background
Original plans called for an eight-lane bridge across the Baltimore Harbor to complete the final segment of Interstate 95 in Maryland. However, 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 community of Locust Point. A 1.7-mile 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, south of the harbor.
The alignment near Fort McHenry and below the shipping channel required the design of the worlds first tunnel sections that curved both vertically and horizontally. The tunnel sections were manufactured in Port Deposit, MD, 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 harbors bottom, and the sections were joined underwater. A dredge-disposal site for materials removed from the tunnel trench was created at nearby, the site of the Port of Baltimore Seagirt Marine Terminal, resulting 136 usable acres of new land. The Tunnel was opened on time and under budget, and continues to be a vital transportation link in the Mid Atlantic region.
Fast Facts
- Construction Dates: June 1980 - November 1985
- Cost: $750 million
- Annual Traffic: 44.1-million vehicles (2003)
- Daily Traffic: approx 115,000 vehicles
Sources: Maryland Transportation Authority
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