Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-12-21
COMMITTEE TALKS OF
BRIDGE ACROSS BAY
Governor Harrington And Com
mittee Meet At Executive
Mansion Last Night
SAY PLAN is FEASIBLE

Governor Harrington last night en-
tertained at dinner at his home in An
napolis the members of the committee
/ he appointed a week or so ago To
study the advisability and the feast
4 bility of constructing a bridge across
the Chesapeake Bay, to connect the
Eastern and Western shores. There
was a general interchange of ideas on
the matter and the prospect was ap-
proved, provided it could be built
within a reasonable amount, and
Chairman Zouck. of the State roads
commission, was requested TO go ahead
with preliminary surveys to determine
the character of the bay bottom.
That the proposed bridge would be
constructed from Bay Shore Park to-
point between Love Point and Toll
chester and that IL would cost about
$12 100000 for structure having a
width of 20 feet and about 100000, 900
for one of 40-foot expansion were the
salient points brought out in course of
the discussion.
John E. Greiner, bridge engineer,
who was the consulting engineer for
the Hanover street bridge. submitted
tentative sketch for a bridge across
the bay, explaining, however, that IL
was somewhat distorted as To dimen-
sion, but sufficient to show what a
bridge across the bay would look like.
OF course, it could not be considered
anything more than a sketch. because
beyond selecting the points for the be-
ginning and the ending of the bridge
nothing has been done, and no moor
ings TO determine the nature OF the
bay bottom at any depth have been
made.
Chairman Zouck submitted some
data about the proposed bridge, deal
ing with it's economic, commercial,
political and social sides He showed
that the Eastern Shore counties which
would be tied up with Baltimore and
the remainder of Maryland by means
of the bridge would have a population
of approximately 100000 people
against a population of 100000 for the
Western Shore with the exception of
Baltimore city and county and the
Southern Maryland counties Terri
/
Shore which would be nearer to Balti-
more than TO Philadelphia, includes,
besides the Maryland counties, rural
| Delaware and the Eastern Shore coun-
ties of Virginia, the entire territory
having a total population of about $780,
600 with a total area of about 5000
| square miles, against a population OF
900 In all the counties west of the
Chesapeake, except Baltimore county
and the city, the total land area west
of the bay, including Baltimore county
and city being 5,S67 square miles.
He showed also that so percent of
the products of the territory east of
the bay are shipped west, via Phila-
delphia, and if large proportion of
such shipments could come through
Baltimore and be shipped west, eighty
miles would be saved. The Hanover
street bridge, built at cost of 81 ,100,-
600, makes tributary to Baltimore by
autotruck the products of Anne Arun-
del county and a part of Calvert coun-
ty and serves altogether not $4,000
persons outside of Baltimore, yet the
traffic over that bridge has grown to
enormous proportions in the short
time since it has been built
Present at the dinner and confer
ence were the following members OF
the committee: Former Governor
Phillips Lee Goldsborough, state
Comptroller Hugh A. McMullen. John
M. Dennis, Chairman Zouck, John NJ
Mackall, chief engineer of the Roads
Commission; Arthur w Thompson,
John e. Epstein, William H. Matthai,
William H. Hayward. Those of the
committee who found it impossible to
get to Annapolis were: State Treas
urer William p. Jackson, Gen. Joseph
b. Seth. ]. r. Aldridge, Jere H. Wheel
wright, Joshua NJ. Miles and Frank A.
Furst.