Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (1932)

I set up the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge page for those who would like to add to it. Since, I doubt I wil be in the Washington DC area anytime in the near future.

The only connection to this structure I have is work on another bridge project with a gentleman who was a construction engineer on the new bridge.

Note that the bridge shown in those recent two photos is *NOT* the bridge that was built in 1961 and rehabilitated in 1984. That bridge is gone. It was worn out by years of carrying many thousands more cars per day than it was orignally designed to carry. I remember as far back as the mid-1980s looking down from my car window and seeing through the potholes to the river below.

In the late 1990s, the bridge and a significant chunk of I-95/495 (The Capital Beltway) through northern Virginia was redesigned. A new eastbound span was built. All traffic was shunted onto the new span in 2006 and the old span was demolished (they held an essay contest on "Why I hate Wilson Bridge" to pick the lucky soul who got to push the button on the detonator to drop the span into the river) A new westbound span was constructed which opened in 2008. The old bridge was 3 lanes each way. The new bridges are 5 lanes each way, with an optional 6th future lane which could be HOV commuter or maybe light rail.

See http://www.wilsonbridge.com for all the details.