FORT MCHENRY TUNNEL OPENS IN BALTIMORE
1985; Issue: 121 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0738-6826
Autores Tópico(s)Geotechnical Engineering and Analysis
ResumoThe Fort McHenry Tunnel, which carries Interstate 95 under the Patapsco River that is Baltimore's harbor, opened in Maryland in November, completing one of the final links of the East Coast Interstate network. The first eight-lane submerged tunnel in the United States, this 1.7-mile project is a marriage of time-tested construction methods and state-of-the-art technology. Not only is the tunnel the longest eight-lane Interstate tunnel ever built, it is also the world's widest immersed tube tunnel designed especially for vehicular traffic. A length of 8,800 feet from grade point to grade point and 7,200 feet from portal to portal, it closes Maryland's last gap in I-95, the East Coast's most important Interstate route, unplugging traffic bottlenecks on the Interstate as it passes through Baltimore and relieving congestion in the four-lane Baltimore Harbor Tunnel that was built in the 1950's. This article describes the construction of the tunnel which entailed the dredging of a massive trench, a screeding operation by which gravel is deposited into the dredged trench and carefully spread by a screed barge, and the placing of 32 prefabricated double-tube tunnel sections.
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