Woodrow Wilson Bridge

A bridge at Jones Point was first proposed by the District Highway Department in August 1952 as part of a study of Potomac River bridge crossing needs. The bridge linked to US Route 1 and the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway in Virginia. In Prince George's County, Maryland, the bridge would connect with Overlook Avenue and Chesapeake Street. in Prince George's County (authorized by Congress in 1930 but never built) and the Inter-County Metropolitan Freeway The Regional Planning Council approved construction of the bridge just four months later. The bridge won the backing of Representative Joel Broyhill of Virginia, who championed legislation funding its construction in Congress. By November 1953, the US Department of the Interior had also recommended its construction. Congress authorized construction of the bridge on August 17, 1954, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the measure into law later that month. The bridge received its name through the efforts of Representative Burr Harrison, a Virginian who sought to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Woodrow Wilson. Eisenhower signed this legislation into law on May 22, 1956, as part of a bill authorizing initial funding for the bridge. Construction of the bridge began in September 1958, and it opened to traffic on December 28, 1961. Edith Wilson, Wilson's widow, died that very morning; she was supposed to have been the guest of honor at the bridge's dedication ceremony. The bridge included a bascule bridge to allow large, ocean-going vessels access to the port facilities of Washington DC. It had six traffic lanes and was designed to handle 75,000 vehicles a day. By 1999, the old Wilson Bridge was handling 200,000 vehicles a day, more than 2.6 times the original design capacity. The bridge had serious maintenance problems and underwent continuous patchwork maintenance beginning in the 1970s. It was completely redecked in 1982 and 1983. One of the reasons for the inadequate design was that it was not originally planned to be part of the major north–south I-95, but rather, as part of the circumferential Capital Beltway. I-95 was planned to bisect the Capital Beltway with a shorter through-route, extending north from Springfield, Virginia, across the Potomac River, through downtown Washington DC, and the northeastern section of DC, and into Maryland to reconnect with the beltway near College Park, Maryland. While the portions in Virginia and in DC south of New York Avenue were built, the remaining segment—designated the Northeast Freeway—was opposed by residents, and construction was canceled in the late 1970s. The portion north of Springfield was designated as a spur, I-395 (Shirley Highway). The eastern half of the Capital Beltway was additionally signed as I‑95. many commuters ran out of gas and spent the night in their vehicles on the bridge. In November 1998, the bridge was closed for several hours during the afternoon rush hour when Ivin L. Pointer engaged police in a seven-hour standoff, creating traffic backups. (Pointer jumped off the bridge, but survived the fall.) == Replacement bridge ==

Construction Maryland, Virginia, and federal highway officials had been confronting the problems and exploring alternatives for many years. After considerable study and public debate, officials chose a plan that would double the capacity and increase the height of the drawbridge to reduce the frequency of openings. The new bridge would include two side-by-side drawbridges with a total of 12 lanes and of vertical navigational clearance at the draw span. On July 16, 2006, at midnight, traffic from the Inner Loop of the beltway was rerouted to the future Outer Loop express lanes for two years. The original 1961 bridge was demolished at 12:35 am, on August 29, 2006, to make room for completion of the six-lane Inner Loop bridge, located between the original bridge and the new Outer Loop span. Local commuter Daniel Ruefly was given the honor of initiating the detonation after he won a contest where he was judged the driver to have suffered the most over the years from the bridge's congestion, with an estimated combined total of two and a half years spent in traffic caused by the bottleneck at the bridge. The airspace above the bridge, and the beltway in both directions, were closed for the detonation, which happened 36 minutes behind schedule. The second bridge span was dedicated on May 15, 2008, and on May 30, 2008, Inner Loop traffic was shifted onto it. After the completion of the Wilson Bridge project, the state of Maryland and the commonwealth of Virginia became the joint owners of the completed bridge, and both states exercise joint responsibility and oversight of bridge activities, maintenance, and operations. The District of Columbia, a jurisdiction that once had ownership rights to the 1961 Wilson Bridge span, relinquished future ownership rights and responsibility for the new bridge. Additionally, DC granted a permanent easement to Maryland and Virginia for the portion of the bridge located within its boundaries. The consultant team for the main bridge over the Potomac River included engineers of record Parsons Transportation Group; bridge architect Miguel Rosales of Rosales + Partners; Consulting engineers were A. Morton Thomas & Associates, Inc.; Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers provided Geotechnical engineering; Subconsultants Finley McNary Engineers (piers); and Hardesty & Hanover, LLP (bascule span). Project management was provided by WSP USA, Rummel, Klepper & Kahl LLP, and URS Corporation. The northern span of the bridge also includes pedestrian and bike passage, separated from traffic by safety barriers. The path, which opened on June 6, 2009, is about wide and long, with "bump-out" areas where users can stop to observe views of Washington and Old Town Alexandria. The new spans are higher than the old bridge, high enough to allow most boats and small ships to pass underneath without having to raise the bridge and reducing the projected number of annual traffic-hindering openings from about 260 to about 60. An extension of the Blue Line across the bridge was also proposed at the same time. , at bottom right. The Blue Plains section of DC is in the upper center-right portion. ==Gallery==

File:2019-07-04 15 05 49 View south along Interstate 95 and Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) crossing the Potomac River via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from the pedestrian overpass for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Trail in National Harbor, Maryland.jpg|View across the bridge from the Maryland side File:Capital Beltway Anacostia Freeway junction.jpg|Construction of interchange on the Maryland side in 2007; the bridge is just to the left File:Underneath Woodrow Wilson Bridge.jpg|The architecture beneath the Wilson Bridge File:2007 04 25 - WWB 66.JPG|Painting application on the new span File:Wooddrow Wilson Bridge.jpg|Woodrow Wilson Bridge at Sunset, as seen from Marina Park, Alexandria, Virginia File:WelcomeVA495WWB.jpg|Welcome to Virginia sign on the Inner Loop over the Wilson Bridge. A short stretch of the bridge just before this sign is in DC. File:2016-01-22 08 59 22 "Welcome To Maryland" sign on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (the northbound outer loop of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 95 and Interstate 495)) in National Harbor, Prince George's County, Maryland.jpg|Welcome to Maryland sign on the Outer Loop over the Wilson Bridge. File:Woodrow Wilson Bridge boundary 2020a.jpg|Virginia–DC border marked on the bridge File:Woodrow Wilson Bridge boundary 2020b.jpg|DC–Maryland border marked on the bridge File:Woodrow Wilson Bridge Open.jpg|The Wilson Bridge open for the passing of a vessel, as seen from Alexandria, Virginia File:Woodrow Wilson Bridge.jpg|Traffic flowing across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge ==See also==