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Boulder Bridge

Washington, District of Columbia

Photos 

Upriver Elevation, Looking Northeast

Photo taken by Jet Lowe for the Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #452115

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

Boulder Bridge is one of the earliest extant bridges in Rock Creek Park. Constructed in 1902, the bridge exemplifies the idea of rustic architecture in the early twentieth century National Parks. It is a Melan reinforced concrete arch bridge with a unique boulder facing. The boulder facing blends into the bridge's surroundings, creating a structure that is both functionally and aesthetically complimentary to the natural setting. Also, the length of the span and the size of the boulders make it unique even among other stone-faced bridges.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview
Concrete arch bridge over Rock Creek on Beach Drive located within Rock Creek Park
Location
Washington, District of Columbia
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1902
Builders
- J.W. Douglas
- Lansing H. Beach
Design
The reinforced concrete arch is faced with large fieldstones found nearby.
Dimensions
Span length: 74.2 ft.
Total length: 74.2 ft.
Deck width: 20.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 1980
Also called
Beach Drive Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+38.94836, -77.04493   (decimal degrees)
38°56'54" N, 77°02'42" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/322789/4313034 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Washington West
Average daily traffic (as of 2007)
13,774
Inventory numbers
NRHP 80000348 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 12237 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of June 2017)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 50.7 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Arch (12,863)
Built 1902 (610)
Built during 1900s (7,936)
Deck arch (12,080)
District of Columbia (75)
Functionally obsolete (5,589)
Have street view (30,397)
J.W. Douglas (2)
Lansing H. Beach (1)
 NR-listed (3,027)
Open (41,421)
Owned by National Park Service (493)
Owned by federal government (1,297)
Park (288)
Span length 50-75 feet (10,678)
Total length 50-75 feet (9,884)
Washington, District of Columbia (75)

Update Log 

  • March 3, 2022: New photo from Dave King
  • February 19, 2020: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • July 13, 2019: HAER photos posted by James Baughn
  • February 27, 2013: Updated by Andy Peters: adds NHRP reference number; changes primary name of bridge; adds name of builders
  • May 4, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth

Sources 

  • Nathan Holth
  • HAER DC-12 - Boulder Bridge, Spanning Rock Creek at Beach Drive, South of Joyce Road, Washington, District of Columbia, DC
  • Andy Peters - anpete1971 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Geoff Hubbs
  • Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com

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