The
Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the
Wilson Bridge) is a
bascule bridge that spans the
Potomac River between the
independent city of
Alexandria, Virginia and
Oxon Hill in
Prince George's County, Maryland. The bridge is one of only a
handful of drawbridges in the
U.S. Interstate Highway System, and contains the only portion of the Interstate system that is owned and operated by the federal government.
The Wilson Bridge carries Interstate 95 and Interstate 495 (the Capital Beltway). The drawbridge on the original span opened approximately 260 times a year, causing frequent disruption to traffic on the bridge, which carried approximately 250,000 cars each day.[1] The new, taller span will require fewer openings.
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge was planned and built as part of the Interstate Highway System created by Congress in 1956. Construction of the bridge began in the late 1950s, and it opened to traffic on December 28, 1961. Edith Wilson, the widow of President Wilson, died that very morning; she was supposed to have been the guest of honor at the bridge's dedication ceremony.[2] The bridge's west abutment is in Virginia, and the remaining majority of it is within Maryland (because that section of the Potomac River is within Maryland's borders). About 300 feet (90 m) of the western mid-span portion of the bridge crosses the tip of the southernmost corner of the District of Columbia. As originally built, the bridge had six traffic lanes, and was 5,900 feet (1,798 m) long. The structure was built as a bascule bridge to allow large, ocean-going vessels access to the port facilities of Washington, D.C.
The bridge is named in honor of the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), who, when elected in 1912, was serving as the Governor of New Jersey, but who had been a native of Staunton, Virginia. While he was President, Mr. Wilson reportedly spent an average of two hours a day riding in his automobile to relax, or to "loosen his mind from the problems before him."
