Long Bridge (Potomac River)
| 14th Street Bridges | |
|---|---|
November 2013 photo of the 14th Street Bridges with Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin and Washington Channel in the background
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| Coordinates | 38°52′34″N 77°02′28″W / 38.876°N 77.041°WCoordinates: 38°52′34″N 77°02′28″W / 38.876°N 77.041°W |
| Carries |
  I‑395 / US 1 Amtrak/VRE/CSX |
| Crosses | Potomac River |
| Locale | Washington, D.C. |
| Other name(s) | Long Bridge Charles R. Fenwick Bridge Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge Rochambeau Bridge George Mason Memorial Bridge |
| History | |
| Opened | 1903–1983 |
The 14th Street Bridges are five bridges near each other that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. A major gateway for automotive and rail traffic, the bridge complex is named for 14th Street (U.S. Route 1), which feeds automotive traffic into it on the D.C. end.
The complex contains three four-lane automobile bridges—one northbound, one southbound, and one bi-directional — that carry Interstate 395 (I-395) and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) traffic. In addition, the complex contains two rail bridges, one of which carries the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro; the other of which, the only mainline rail crossing of the Potomac River to Virginia, carries a CSX Transportation rail line.
At the north end of the bridge, in East Potomac Park, the three roadways feed into a pair of two-way bridges over the Washington Channel into downtown Washington, one carrying traffic (including northbound US 1) north onto 14th Street, and the other carrying I-395 traffic onto the Southwest Freeway. The Metro line enters a tunnel in the East Potomac Park, and the main line railroad from the Long Bridge passes over I-395 and runs over the Washington Channel just downstream of the 14th Street approach before turning northeast along the line of Maryland Avenue. The original bridge ran to the junction of 14th Street and Maryland Avenue, with access to either for cars.
On January 13th, 1982, 78 people were killed when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the northbound I-395 span of the bridge during rush hour. The repaired span was renamed in honor of Arland D. Williams Jr., a passenger on the plane who survived the initial crash, but drowned after repeatedly passing a helicopter rescue line to other survivors.
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Wikipedia