Benedict Bridge

The Benedict Bridge is a bridge in Maryland crossing the Patuxent River and connecting Calvert County, Maryland with Charles County, Maryland. It is one of two major crossings of the Patuxent in the Southern Maryland region, with the other bridge being the Thomas Johnson Bridge in Solomons, Maryland, approximately 20 miles to the south.

While the bridge has never received a formal name or designation, the local population commonly refers to it as the Benedict Bridge, due to its connection with the small town of Benedict, Maryland on the western side of the Patuxent River.

Maryland Route 231 is the highway which utilizes the Benedict Bridge. The bridge itself is approximately one-half mile long and two lanes wide. At the center of the bridge there is a small swing bridge which opens sporadically to allow boat traffic through. [cite web
url=http://www.sha.state.md.us/keepingcurrent/maintainRoadsBridges/bridges/OBD/drawBridges/dbridge.asp
title=Movable Bridges on State Maintained Highways
publisher=Maryland Department of Transportation — State Highway Administration
date=January 2007]

The bridge itself was built in 1950 [citation
url=http://www.sha.state.md.us/KeepingCurrent/maintainRoadsBridges/bridges/oppe/bridgebook/bridge_book.asp
last1=Legler
first1=Dixie
last2=Highsmith
first2=Carol
date=2002
title=Historic Bridges of Maryland
pages=127
location=Crownsville, Md.
publisher=Maryland Historic Trust
isbn=1-878399-80-2] [citation
url=http://www.sha.state.md.us/KeepingCurrent/maintainRoadsBridges/bridges/oppe/hist_bridge_inv1809_1947.pdf
title=SHA's Historic Bridge Inventory 1809-1947
publisher=State Highway Administration - Maryland
This source lists data used in "Historic Bridges of Maryland". The Benedict Bridge (1950) is one of a few whose date lies outside the scope of the title.] [citation
url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/sia/29.2/br_6.html
title=Reviews: Historic Bridges of Maryland
author=Robert C
last=Chidester
publisher=The Society for Industrial Archeology
date=2003
accessdate=2007-12-02
This review comments that the book's scope is 1807-1947 (matching SHA's reference).] and, prior to the opening of the Thomas Johnson Bridge in 1978, it was the only means of connecting Calvert County with the other two counties in Southern Maryland. [citation
url=http://somdthisisliving.somd.com/vol6num1/benedict.html
title=Benedict: A Gem on the Patuxent
author=Kathy Warren
publisher=Southern Maryland This is Living — Southern Maryland Online
volume=6
issue=1
This source states that the bridge was constructed in 1951.] Although the bridge is still functional and shows no signs of structural defects or advanced age after a 2002 facelift, there is ongoing debate as to whether to replace the current span with a newer bridge to better accommodate the quickly growing Southern Maryland region.

References

External links

* [http://www.tessastructures.com/benedict.html Rehabilitation of Benedict Bridge over The Pax River, Charles County, MD]