BRIDGES OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Fourteenth Street Bridge complex crossing the Potomac is well-known to Washingtonians, as it includes five separate bridges that carry interstate highway traffic, commuters by Metro subway, freight, and Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express passengers by rail, making it one of the busiest river crossings in the city.

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The complex has a complicated history, dating back to the construction of the original Long Bridge in 1809. The Long Bridge underwent multiple changes back and forth from road bridge to rail bridge and back again, with the current railroad bridge bearing the name “Long Bridge” having been constructed in 1904. A road bridge, called the “Highway Bridge” was constructed adjacent to the Long Bridge in 1906. The “Highway Bridge” was ultimately replaced with three new road bridges. The first of these, opened in 1950, carried only inbound traffic, while the 1906 bridge continued to be used for outbound traffic. The new bridge was named for Rochambeau, the Revolutionary War Hero.  It is a relatively plain-looking utilitarian bridge, but does have an appealing, stone-faced operator’s tower for operation of the drawspan, although this has not been used since 1962. In 1962, the George Mason Bridge was constructed on the north side, followed by the removal of the 1906 bridge in 1967. This left three bridges in the complex – the Long Bridge for rail traffic, Rochambeau for inbound traffic, and Mason for outbound traffic. Of these, the Long Bridge had some historical interest, the Rochambeau Bridge had the unusual operator’s tower, and the Mason Bridge had a sidewalk to connect bike trails in Virginia to the Tidal Basin.

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Then, a third highway bridge was constructed in between the two highway bridges in 1972. When constructed, this bridge was not given a name. However, most Washingtonians of a certain age remember the snowstorm of January 13, 1982, when an Air Florida jet taking off from National Airport struck the Rochambeau Bridge, killing seventy-four passengers and four people on the bridge. One of the passengers, Arland D. Williams, helped to rescue several people from the water before he himself drowned. Following this tragedy, the 1950 Rochambeau Bridge was renamed for Williams, and the Rochambeau name was transferred to the unnamed 1972 bridge. The final bridge to be added to the complex was the Charles Fenwick Bridge, which carries Metro Yellow Line subway trains. The Fenwick Bridge, situated between Long Bridge and Arland Williams Bridge, was opened in 1983.

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Today, the five bridges making up the complex have limited visual appeal. They are mostly utilitarian, mid-century steel truss bridges. They are all low-profile, sitting on piers with no substantial superstructure, so they are not visible from a large distance, and there are no towers or cables that can act as works of modern public art. Only one of them, Long Bridge, has an interesting historic background. However, the northernmost of the bridges, the George Mason Bridge, has one feature that may make it an attraction for tourists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Although it is a noisy, busy interstate highway bridge, it carries a narrow sidewalk on its northern side, which is the side that faces most of the monuments and other prominent buildings in the city. Directly north along the river, the sidewalk offers an amazing view of the monumental Arlington Memorial Bridge about a mile away, flanked by the tall office towers of Rosslyn, Virginia on one end and the Lincoln Memorial on the other. Closer to the eastern shore of the river, a view to the northeast offers one of the best opportunities to view the entirety of the Tidal Basin, flanked by bright pink cherry blossoms every spring. This view includes the outward-facing profile of the unusual Inlet Bridge, the Kutz Bridge on the opposite shore the Tidal Basin, the Washington Monument, the white dome of the Jefferson Memorial, and, in the distance, the south portal of the White House.

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There is a more detailed description of the history of the Fourteenth Street Bridge complex in my new book, Bridges of Washington, DC: A History and Guide.