Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge
| Woodrow Wilson Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | 38°47′36″N 77°01′54″W / 38.793396°N 77.03167°WCoordinates: 38°47′36″N 77°01′54″W / 38.793396°N 77.03167°W |
| Carries | 12 lanes of   I‑95 / I‑495, pedestrian traffic |
| Crosses | Potomac River |
| Locale | Alexandria, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Oxon Hill, Maryland |
| Maintained by | Virginia Department of Transportation and Maryland State Highway Administration |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Double-leaf Bascule bridge |
| Total length | 6,736 feet (2,053 m) |
| Clearance below | 70 feet (21 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | December 28, 1961 (original span) June 10, 2006 (new outer loop span) May 30, 2008 (new inner loop span) |
| Closed | 1961 span closed July 15, 2006. Demolished August 29, 2006. |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | Approx 250,000 veh/day |
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or 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, United States. The bridge is one of only a handful of drawbridges in the U.S. Interstate Highway System. It contained the only portion of the Interstate system owned and operated by the federal government, but was turned over to the Virginia and Maryland departments of transportation upon project completion.
The Wilson Bridge carries Interstate 95 (I-95) and I-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. The new, higher span requires fewer openings.
The bridge's west abutment is in Virginia, a small portion is in Washington, D.C., and the remaining majority of it is within Maryland (because that section of the Potomac River is within Maryland's borders). About 300 feet (91 m) of the western mid-span portion of the bridge crosses the tip of the southernmost corner of the District of Columbia. Therefore, the bridge is the only bridge in the United States that crosses the borders of three jurisdictions. The section in Washington, D.C. is also the shortest segment of Interstate Highway between state lines.
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 was a native of Staunton, Virginia. While he was President, 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." President Wilson was an advocate of automobile and highway improvements in the United States. In 1916 he stated "My interest in good roads is...to bind communities together and open their intercourse, so that it will flow with absolute freedom and facility".
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