When it opened to traffic in 1952, the William Preston Lane Jr.
The new Bridge transformed Maryland\'s Eastern Shore from a sleepy back.
The four-mile long span was constructed over the Chesapeake Bay in a dramatic 2.5-year period of progress that became known to the workers as "Operation Link," because it would be the first physical connection between the two widely separated parts of Maryland.
Memorial Bridge--simply called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge--was the third-longest Bridge in the world.
When it opened to traffic in 1952, the William Preston Lane Jr