Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Photos

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Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Photos - April 2008

The following 32 photos show various views of the I-95/I-495 Woodrow Wilson Bridge (WWB) Project construction, including the new Potomac River Bridge construction, the Virginia U.S. Route 1 Interchange construction, the Washington Street Urban Deck construction, and the Maryland Interstate 295 Interchange construction.

These photos were taken on April 18, 2008 by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and are posted here with their permission. Roads to the Future utilized PhotoDeluxe Business Edition to sharpen and brighten and to align all of the photos. Click on the photo to get a large version of the photo. In later versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer, you probably will need to use Full Screen mode (the F11 key can be utilized to swap back and forth between Full Screen and Regular) to see the full size of the large photo without browser-induced image shrinkage. The large photos have sizes ranging from 124 to 292 kilobytes, with most of them being under 202 kilobytes. The photos marked "LARGE PHOTO" are much larger, with a very detailed zoom-in of the previous photo, and they have the file size listed next to the photo. With a broadband or network Internet connection each photo will download within seconds, but with a dial-up Internet connection it will be somewhat slower.

Virginia land approaches construction to the Potomac River Bridge (Woodrow Wilson Bridge), for the Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing under the Washington Street Urban Deck, looking against the flow (toward WWB and Maryland) of the future traffic. The overhead sign trusses in the distance, are over the WWB near its Virginia end.

Virginia land approaches construction to the Potomac River Bridge, for the Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Looking against the flow (toward WWB and Maryland) of the future traffic. The overhead sign trusses in the distance, are over the WWB near its Virginia end.

WWB Project construction, the new pylon with the name of the new bridge, carrying the same name as the original bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and carrying the same medallion of President Woodrow Wilson which was formerly on the side of the original bridge's drawspan control tower.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane express (inner) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the Virginia end of the WWB, looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. Standing on the concrete median barrier between the 3-lane local (outer) roadway and 3-lane express (inner) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the Virginia end of the WWB, looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA. The Virginia end of the Potomac River Bridge is where the bridge roadway deck's concrete (beige color) meets the land roadway asphalt pavement (black color). Conventional concrete wall is being used for the sound barrier on the land approach. A 1,550-foot transparent wall on the new Wilson Bridge will provide soundproofing for Old Town Alexandria residents while preserving the view from the bridge; and the wall, made of acrylic panels called Paraglas, will be 17 feet tall.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA. Notice crane lifting segment of sound barrier.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. The Virginia Potomac River shoreline is almost directly under the Virginia welcome sign.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the concrete parapet between the roadway and the pedestrian path to the left on the other side of the concrete barrier; there will be a separate pedestrian/bicycle trail on the north side of the second new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and the trail will carry pedestrian and bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland. Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic. The signal light in the center of the photo, is to stop pedestrians at that point if the drawspan is to be raised.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. The white-painted gate swings out 90 degrees to stop pedestrians at that point if the drawspan is to be raised.
This view is looking north along the Potomac River, with Old Town Alexandria to the left and with downtown Washington, D.C. in the distance. If you look carefully along the left edge of the river, you can see the Washington Monument in the far distance.

There will be great views for pedestrians, indeed!

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the concrete parapet between the roadway and the pedestrian path to the right on the other side of the concrete barrier. The widened semi-circular section of the path (of which there will a number of them), is for pedestrians to have a place to view the scenery, and be out of the way of the pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Near the highest point of the bridge (notice the new drawbridge Operator's Tower at the right edge of the photo). Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Near the highest point of the bridge. Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.

The new drawbridge Operator's Tower, which is located between the two new bridges, at the Virginia end of the bascule span. The forward-leaning part of the tower 'leans' over the drawspan to provide the necessary visibility for the operator. This tower is considerably smaller than the original tower, as the higher vertical navigational clearance (70 feet new, versus 50 feet original) under the drawspan when closed, means far fewer (about one per week) drawspan openings will be needed, therefore the human operator will only need to be there occasionally.

Potomac River Bridge construction, looking west from just west of the bascule spans, looking toward Virginia. To the left is the new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the under-construction new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Notice the pedestrian path to the right on the other side of the concrete barrier; there will be a separate pedestrian/bicycle trail on the north side of the second new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and the trail will carry pedestrian/bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland.

Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. The Virginia Potomac River shoreline is almost directly under the Virginia welcome sign.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building in Alexandria, Virginia, showing the recently-opened (in June and July of 2006) new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge, which is currently configured to carry 3 Beltway Outer Loop lanes and 3 Beltway Inner Loop lanes. The new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge, to the left of the Outer Loop bridge, is nearing completion, with all foundations built, all superstructure beams placed, and all of the roadway deck has been constructed.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building. Closer view of the roadway deck construction on the Inner Loop bridge at the Virginia end of the bridge. Notice the new pylon with the name of the new bridge, carrying the same name as the original bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and carrying the same medallion of President Woodrow Wilson which was formerly on the side of the original bridge's drawspan control tower.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building. View of the roadway deck construction on the Inner Loop bridge at the Virginia end of the bridge, and the Virginia land approach construction.
Notice the sound barrier under construction on the north (left) edge of the Inner Loop bridge. A 1,550-foot transparent wall on the new Wilson Bridge will provide soundproofing for Old Town Alexandria residents while preserving the view from the bridge; and the wall, made of acrylic panels called Paraglas, will be 17 feet tall.

Woodrow Wilson Bridge, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing the completed Washington Street Urban Deck in Alexandria VA. Washington Street is the highway that crosses the Beltway, and its traffic was maintained during construction over the Beltway. The completed Washington Street Deck will span the entire reconstructed 12-lane Beltway, and the deck is over 200 feet long and over 200 feet wide, and carries the 4-lane Washington Street with landscaping over the rest of the deck. The Washington Street Urban Deck will remove the 'barrier effect' to pedestrians that would exist with a simple replacement of the 4-lane Washington Street overpass over the 12-lane Beltway. The section of the reconstructed Beltway from the Virginia abutment of the Potomac River Bridge to a couple hundred yards west of the Washington Street Deck and inclusive of the Washington Street Deck, is being built under the US Route 1 Interchange Tie-In contract.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance. Telephoto shot that shows the temporary Beltway roadways that connect the new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge to the pre-existing Beltway roadways. This is part of the US Route 1 Interchange Tie-In contract, and the reverse-curve "tie-in" is where the contract got its name.

WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange. Telephoto shot that shows the under construction 3-lane Outer Loop local roadway, notice the paving operations in the center of the photo.

Interstate 295 Interchange and Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction, looking west. Virginia and Old Town Alexandria is on the opposite side of the Potomac River, and Maryland is on the near side of the river.

This is a zoom-in excerpt and large version (size 1,916 kilobytes) of the previous photo. The overpass near the end of the WWB, is part of the pedestrian/bicycle path that will connect the two states via a separated path along the right (north) edge of the under-construction Inner Loop WWB, and the trail will carry pedestrian/bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland.

LARGE PHOTO

Lead article - Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Photos

Copyright � 2008 by Scott Kozel. All rights reserved. Reproduction, reuse, or distribution without permission is prohibited.

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By Scott M. Kozel, Capital Beltway dot com, Roads to the Future

(Created 5-5-2008)

	Virginia land approaches construction to the Potomac River Bridge (Woodrow Wilson Bridge), for the Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing under the Washington Street Urban Deck, looking against the flow (toward WWB and Maryland) of the future traffic. The overhead sign trusses in the distance, are over the WWB near its Virginia end.
	Virginia land approaches construction to the Potomac River Bridge, for the Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Looking against the flow (toward WWB and Maryland) of the future traffic. The overhead sign trusses in the distance, are over the WWB near its Virginia end.
	WWB Project construction, the new pylon with the name of the new bridge, carrying the same name as the original bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and carrying the same medallion of President Woodrow Wilson which was formerly on the side of the original bridge's drawspan control tower.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane express (inner) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the Virginia end of the WWB, looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. Standing on the concrete median barrier between the 3-lane local (outer) roadway and 3-lane express (inner) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the Virginia end of the WWB, looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA. The Virginia end of the Potomac River Bridge is where the bridge roadway deck's concrete (beige color) meets the land roadway asphalt pavement (black color). Conventional concrete wall is being used for the sound barrier on the land approach. A 1,550-foot transparent wall on the new Wilson Bridge will provide soundproofing for Old Town Alexandria residents while preserving the view from the bridge; and the wall, made of acrylic panels called Paraglas, will be 17 feet tall.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, Virginia approach, looking at sound barrier under construction along the north side of the bridge, to reduce the noise impacts to Old Town Alexandria VA. Notice crane lifting segment of sound barrier.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. The Virginia Potomac River shoreline is almost directly under the Virginia welcome sign.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the concrete parapet between the roadway and the pedestrian path to the left on the other side of the concrete barrier; there will be a separate pedestrian/bicycle trail on the north side of the second new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and the trail will carry pedestrian and bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland. Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic. The signal light in the center of the photo, is to stop pedestrians at that point if the drawspan is to be raised.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. The white-painted gate swings out 90 degrees to stop pedestrians at that point if the drawspan is to be raised. This view is looking north along the Potomac River, with Old Town Alexandria to the left and with downtown Washington, D.C. in the distance. If you look carefully along the left edge of the river, you can see the Washington Monument in the far distance. There will be great views for pedestrians, indeed!
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. Standing near the concrete parapet between the roadway and the pedestrian path to the right on the other side of the concrete barrier. The widened semi-circular section of the path (of which there will a number of them), is for pedestrians to have a place to view the scenery, and be out of the way of the pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Near the highest point of the bridge (notice the new drawbridge Operator's Tower at the right edge of the photo). Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Near the highest point of the bridge. Looking against the flow (toward Maryland) of the future traffic.
	The new drawbridge Operator's Tower, which is located between the two new bridges, at the Virginia end of the bascule span. The forward-leaning part of the tower 'leans' over the drawspan to provide the necessary visibility for the operator. This tower is considerably smaller than the original tower, as the higher vertical navigational clearance (70 feet new, versus 50 feet original) under the drawspan when closed, means far fewer (about one per week) drawspan openings will be needed, therefore the human operator will only need to be there occasionally.
	Potomac River Bridge construction, looking west from just west of the bascule spans, looking toward Virginia. To the left is the new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the under-construction new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge. Notice the pedestrian path to the right on the other side of the concrete barrier; there will be a separate pedestrian/bicycle trail on the north side of the second new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and the trail will carry pedestrian/bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland.
	Potomac River Bridge 6-lane Inner Loop bridge, nearing completion. This roadway is the 3-lane local (outer) roadway of the Inner Loop (Virginia bound) of the Beltway. The Virginia Potomac River shoreline is almost directly under the Virginia welcome sign.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building in Alexandria, Virginia, showing the recently-opened (in June and July of 2006) new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge, which is currently configured to carry 3 Beltway Outer Loop lanes and 3 Beltway Inner Loop lanes. The new 6-lane Inner Loop Potomac River Bridge, to the left of the Outer Loop bridge, is nearing completion, with all foundations built, all superstructure beams placed, and all of the roadway deck has been constructed.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building. Closer view of the roadway deck construction on the Inner Loop bridge at the Virginia end of the bridge. Notice the new pylon with the name of the new bridge, carrying the same name as the original bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and carrying the same medallion of President Woodrow Wilson which was formerly on the side of the original bridge's drawspan control tower.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building. View of the roadway deck construction on the Inner Loop bridge at the Virginia end of the bridge, and the Virginia land approach construction. Notice the sound barrier under construction on the north (left) edge of the Inner Loop bridge. A 1,550-foot transparent wall on the new Wilson Bridge will provide soundproofing for Old Town Alexandria residents while preserving the view from the bridge; and the wall, made of acrylic panels called Paraglas, will be 17 feet tall.
	Woodrow Wilson Bridge, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing the completed Washington Street Urban Deck in Alexandria VA. Washington Street is the highway that crosses the Beltway, and its traffic was maintained during construction over the Beltway. The completed Washington Street Deck will span the entire reconstructed 12-lane Beltway, and the deck is over 200 feet long and over 200 feet wide, and carries the 4-lane Washington Street with landscaping over the rest of the deck. The Washington Street Urban Deck will remove the 'barrier effect' to pedestrians that would exist with a simple replacement of the 4-lane Washington Street overpass over the 12-lane Beltway. The section of the reconstructed Beltway from the Virginia abutment of the Potomac River Bridge to a couple hundred yards west of the Washington Street Deck and inclusive of the Washington Street Deck, is being built under the US Route 1 Interchange Tie-In contract.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing part of the Washington Street Urban Deck, with construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange in the distance. Telephoto shot that shows the temporary Beltway roadways that connect the new 6-lane Outer Loop Potomac River Bridge to the pre-existing Beltway roadways. This is part of the US Route 1 Interchange Tie-In contract, and the reverse-curve "tie-in" is where the contract got its name.
	WWB Project construction, photo taken from the roof of a Hunting Towers Apartment building, showing construction of the Beltway U.S. Route 1 Interchange. Telephoto shot that shows the under construction 3-lane Outer Loop local roadway, notice the paving operations in the center of the photo.
	Interstate 295 Interchange and Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction, looking west. Virginia and Old Town Alexandria is on the opposite side of the Potomac River, and Maryland is on the near side of the river.
	This is a zoom-in excerpt and large version (size 1,916 kilobytes) of the previous photo. The overpass near the end of the WWB, is part of the pedestrian/bicycle path that will connect the two states via a separated path along the right (north) edge of the under-construction Inner Loop WWB, and the trail will carry pedestrian/bicycle traffic between US-1 south of Alexandria and pedestrian/bicycle trails in Maryland. LARGE PHOTO