William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge

This picture was taken from the Eastern Shore of the Bridge. As it is better known, The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a dual-span bridge connecting the Western part to the Eastern part of Maryland. The original span, shown in the foreground, was opened in 1952 with the parallel span added in 1973 to accommodate increasing volumes of traffic. The original span is now being used for Eastern going traffic only while the new span is used primarily for Western going traffic. The spans are referred to "Eastbound span" and "Westbound span". This is where the Bridge becomes unique. The "Westbound span" actually has three (3) lanes of which one of the lanes can be used for either "Westbound" or "Eastbound" traffic depending on which direction the heavy traffic is heading. The "Eastbound" has only two (2) lanes. The spans are 4.33 and 4.35 miles respectively. The bridge is one massive structure.