Arlington Memorial Bridge

About

The Arlington Memorial Bridge (often shortened to Memorial Bridge) is a neoclassical steel and stone arch bridge that spans the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., linking the National Mall to Arlington National Cemetery. First proposed in 1886, the bridge went unbuilt for decades thanks to political quarrels over whether the bridge should be a memorial, and to whom or what. Traffic problems associated with the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in November 1921 and the desire to build a bridge in time for the bicentennial of the birth of George Washington led to its construction in 1932. The bridge was designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White. It is decorated with monumental statues depicting valor and sacrifice, designed by sculptor Leo Friedlander and cast by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry of Florence, Italy. The central section, a bascule (drawbridge) which had not been used since 1961, was replaced in 2018 by one that does not open.

Congress first proposed a bridge at the site of the current structure on May 24, 1886. The resolution required that the United States Department of War study the feasibility of a bridge at the site, and a 24-foot (7.3 m) wide design was proposed later that year. The following year, the War Department suggested a "Lincoln-Grant Memorial Bridge". The Washington Post supported the idea of naming the bridge after both Robert E. Lee and Grant. Congress again passed a resolution requesting another design, and in late 1887 the department proposed a "General Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Bridge". The new bridge would be a suspension bridge 105 feet (32 m) high, with 98 feet (30 m) of clearance below it. Designs for the bridge at this time included a bare steel truss bridge, a low masonry arch bridge, and a Romanesque Revival structure by Paul J. Pelz with two massive central towers, two barbicans on each end, and exuberant ornamentation. Senator John W. Daniel sponsored legislation in 1897 funding a survey of the bedrock in the Potomac River. Congress approved the legislation the same year, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers began the survey in July. The survey was delivered in March 1898. Because the bridge was conceived as a memorial to Grant, Congress repeatedly blocked funding for the bridge. But after the Corps' survey was complete, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to expend $5,000 ($193,500 in 2025 dollars) on a bridge design competition. To help improve the prospects for a bridge, a "National Memorial Bridge Association" was formed. In July, four prominent bridge engineers from New York City — George S. Morrison, Leffert L. Buck, William H. Burr, and William R. Hutton — were invited to submit designs for a memorial bridge to honor American war dead. A five-member board appointed by the Secretary of War selected a design by William H. Burr and architect Edward P. Casey (designer of the Taft Bridge). Their design, based on the 1887 winning plan, called for a drawbridge made of steel and stone with 36 arches. A "classical" tower sat over each end of the draw span, on top of which would stand bronze statues of Victory. Statues of famous generals and statesmen (in either bronze or granite) would line both sides of the bridge. Senator George F. Hoar blocked the bridge from being built in June 1900 because he opposed the design. The National Memorial Bridge Association began pushing again for a bridge in October 1900, and commissioned Connecticut architect George Keller to design plans. Keller's design went on display in Washington in November. Contrary to almost all previous designs, his bridge was low to the water and eliminated a draw span. His design featured a monumental Romanesque Revival arch for the D.C. approaches and a memorial column celebrating the Union on the Virginia side, both to be placed in traffic circles. Keller's design was published in architectural magazines, and by 1901 was widely seen as the appropriate design for the bridge. In 1901, the American Institute of Architects proposed that the bridge extend New York Avenue NW (which then ended at 23rd Street NW) over the Potomac to Arlington National Cemetery. But once more, Congress did not act.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.