Produced in 1953 by Bethlehem Steel Company, this documentary shows the creation of the Chesapeake Bay bridge in Maryland. Transferred with sound from 16mm.
The heroism displayed by the workers during construction is nearly without parallel at present. Returning from WW2, these men carried the 'can-do' attitude that built much of what we enjoy to this very day. Having grown up on the shores of the bay, we enjoyed the harvest bounty of seafood from it. After the bridge was built, though we saw a sharp decrease in some species we had previously enjoyed, such as the 'hard-head' or croaker fish. Not sure if anyone has studied this phenom. I went to school in Sparrows Point and often marveled at the site, on a clear day, looking down the bay from the windows of the school bus, at the original span that was clearly visible for some 20 miles away. It is/was a feat of engineering and courage. That span made possible the uniting of the 2 sides of Maryland in a way that was before impossible. I knew a fellow who moved over to the eastern side (Queenstown) and commuted several times each day with his ice cream truck to sell in the suburban areas of Annapolis. Commerce grew every year for so many and was the catalyst for Ocean City going from a small sleepy village to a major ocean resort. In the early years, after the bridge was built, it was possible to sample the lifestyles of those who had been isolated on the eastern shore. I can remember stopping along the way to the ocean for sweet potato pie and homemade bbq chicken at roadside stands. The folks on that side seemed to lead a simpler life back then. I think much of that was lost, though afterwards.
When I was about 5 years old I traveled via ferry across the Chesapeake. The bridge was still under construction but was almost completed. My dad talked to me about the difficulty of construction.
Back in the late 80’s my buddy and I would share the driving from Baltimore to Ocean City across the bridge. My then girlfriend/ex-fiancé and I would make the trip across after I met her. Can’t swim.....hated that drive. Bridge was a modern marvel for the time and quite an achievement, but driving across that bridge is scary. The men who built it had nerves of steel and balls of iron and bet everyone of them has passed. The greatest generation.
Wow this was great! Thank you for sharing this . I drive across it every week for work and have made over 900 trips . Always one of my favorite parts of the week!.
Reading this as a sophomore civil engineering major makes me so excited. When I was 6 I would be watching the same exact kinds of things (and still do lol). We may have a future Civil Engineer!!
Fascinating story ... I've crossed that bridge more than a hundred times (and sailed under it once), but now I can appreciate all that went into its construction (and muse on the fact that it's older than I am, but just by a year or so). It went from a two-way bridge to an eastbound bridge in 1973, when Maryland completed a parallel three-lane westbound span to its north -- with one reversible lane for Friday-night congestion, when the eastbound traffic overwhelms the two eastbound lanes. This is awkward at best and dangerous at worst, and the Eastern Shore politicos are agitating for "more bridge" -- they want both spans replaced with an eight-lane bridge, but Maryland's Governor Hogan feels that the right answer is to build a third span. Seems to me that a three-lane eastbound bridge south of the 1952 bridge would work, allowing the old bridge to switch from eastbound Friday to westbound Sunday. But we can expect the Gubmint to pursue the most expensive, wasteful, and over-engineered answer.
Damn this is history right here.. Me and my cousin are the only ones that I know that love going across this bridge. Everyone else I know are terrified and I think I know why. It's because the road doesn't have any shoulders, so when you ride along the bridge it fills like you are going to go over the side.
As an apprentice carpenter/piledriver this video is really cool. It is amazing what man can do with basic hand tools, a level, string line and torch and welding machine.
Been over it many times. The first time was the Sunday after it opened. Before the Bridge was completed, my family took the ferry to and from the eastern shore. I must be older than dirt!
The issue with the first bridge was it was to small (no emergency lanes). Also the suspension bride section's road deck is boxed in with beams and they obstructs the view of the bay.
I drove over that bridge for the first time in 1988. It terrified me. Long after I left the DC area, I took my wife and then 3 year old to Ocean City. I drove over that bridge in a windy rainstorm. I almost made the steering wheel pop, I held it so hard.
That's my "landmark" when I'm sailing up (or down) the Chesapeake Bay. We call it "The Bridge That Never Gets There," because (at sailing speed 5 kts or so) you see it HOURS before you actually sail under it. Another "Bridge That Never Gets There" is the Francis Scott Key Bridge just outside of Baltimore Harbor.
@@ChesapeakeBay89 My schooner's docked at Fell's Point now. After all this COVID crap, I'm gonna' do a bit of a "refurb"/refit and hope to be sailing to Rock Hall at least once a month. Waterman's restaurant and the Harbor Shack restaurant are both GREAT places for seafood or any other kind of chow in Rock Hall. Also, Rock Hall's annual Pirate Weekends used to be the stuff of legend, too. The organizers say they plain to start building them up again in the post-COVID world.
@@deltaboy767 it only has 2 lanes and both of the bridges are constantly a bottleneck for traffic. They were looking into doing a feasibility study for a new bridge to replace both, but I’m guessing that has been shelved or cancelled after the key bridge collapse
@@theresalwaystrainsintetonv69 Have you ever been across the Golden Gate bridge? It's also 2 lane in one direction and 2 lanes In the other, and it was built in 1918. Well over 100 years and still serving it's purpose.
Ever since then it has become one of the most scariest bridges to cross in America. But i like this design, and its construction. On the shores it gives a nice view of the bridge from here.
Wow! At 6:55 there's a real "steam shovel" (crane). I wonder if it was a Keystone? My grandfather operated one of those. I met an old guy in Florida who was operating one when it tipped over and the firebox dumped onto his leg. He lived for many years after that, but the skin on his legs was a mess.
Not enough credit given to the captains of the barges carrying those huge spans in unison, to ensure everything went together as planned. Nor to the crane operators who had to control the raising and lowering of the spans as they dealt with the ever changing waves. Also does anyone know how many died building the bridge?
Prior to 9/11, they would close one of the spans for a few hours every year on a day in May for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk/Run. I made the 4 mile trek every year.
You are right. China is the master infrastructure country in the world. They could build a new bridge in a year while we would take at least twice that long. But we can get your burger and fries in five minutes. We have become dumb, gun crazy and shallow.
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
@@squire87 Bethlehem Steel had a large film library which was used for in-corporate use. They also loaned films to the public via Modern Talking Pictures service. AT the time of Bethlehem's closure I suggested to the curator at the National Canal Museum in nearby Easton that he should look into their films. As a result everything was donated and for my work I was given prints when there were duplicates, including this film. Like yourself I used to record audio on tape and later video.
@@ronz101 According to the film's opening title card, Copyright belonged to BS in 1953. Of course that was 70 years so it may very well have fallen into the public domain by now.
