The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge Project Rich Carmona Michael Francis

Completed 1964 Total Length –1798m Width – 33.5m 6 Lanes of Traffic Height – 50 ft Designed to carry 75,000 vehicles per day $15 Million The Original Bridge

Current Conditions In Washington D.C. Approximately 200,000 vehicles per day Estimated to grow to 295,000 per day by 2020 Trucks will have to be prohibited in 2004 Cost of rehabilitation is equal to the cost of a new bridge Structural damage caused by dynamic vibrations from overloading

New Bridge Total Length –1829m Width – 72.3m 12 Lanes Height – 70 ft 18 Spans Box-girder construction Cost – $492 million

Bascule Span Bridge 17 th Street Bridge (completed 2001) Total Length – 582m Width m 4 Lanes Height – 55 ft Variable depth segmental construction Cost - $65 million

Parsons Transportation New Tacoma Narrows Bridge (completed 2007) Total Length – 1645m Main Span – 853m Width – 20.1m 3 Lanes Deck stiffened suspension $615 Million

Cost Comparison Both bascule spans are much cheaper per square foot Slightly higher costs of the new Wilson Bridge can be attributed to its greater height

Scientific

Social Impact Traffic Lanes will increase from 6 to 12 Eventually there will be mass transit over the bridge

Bridge Openings The new bridge is taller to allow for fewer openings of the drawbridge which means less standstills. The backups are regularly miles long in both directions as eight lanes of beltway squeeze into six.

Social Impact Alternatives was to reroute trucks to I-395, I- 295 and Route 301. About 20,000 trucks a day could be diverted from the Beltway. $58 Billion of trucked GDP crossed the bridge in The diversion of traffic from I-95 would have bad effects on the economy

Symbolic Symbolic of the politics and red tape of D.C. Looking towards the past Will increase the suburbanization of Washington D.C.

Symbolic In D.C. it had the opportunity to be a memorable structure- identifying mark of the region

Structural Art Does our bridge “qualify” as structural art?

Structural Art Park within a structure? Is the bridge honest with us? Does it accurately convey the forces of the bridge?

Does it Matter? Utilitarian purpose of a bridge- to get people and goods from here to there, in cars, trucks, bicycles or whatever. Aesthetic and symbolic- to make these crossings meaningful to participants and also to distant observers in boats, on river embankments, in neighboring buildings

“Change is not worthwhile unless it shows improvement” -President Woodrow Wilson