PROJECTS
Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opens as DC's newest crossing

11/3/2021
7 MIN READ
By T.R. Witcher

Washington, D.C., may not be the first American city that comes to mind when you think of historic bridges — perhaps it’s the iconic bridges of New York, San Francisco, or even Pittsburgh — but many understated, elegant structures span the Potomac River, including the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Francis Scott Key Bridge. In recent years the Anacostia River, which bisects the city south and east of downtown before joining with the Potomac River, has become a focal point of redevelopment in the city. In early September, the city opened what it hopes will be considered a new signature bridge: the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, a 1,445 ft crossing that features a dramatic through-arch design containing three arches.


The three through-arches of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge are meant to create a “visual effect of continuity and flow from the deck to the water surface,” according to Everett Lott, DDOT’s acting director. (Photograph courtesy of District Department of Transportation)

The original bridge, the South Capitol Street Bridge, was built in 1950 and renamed in honor of 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1965. The life span of the four-lane swing bridge was planned to be 50 years, but in 2007 it was rehabilitated to extend its life span by approximately 15 years to accommodate construction of a new crossing.

Seventy years after its construction, the original bridge — which saw upward of 77,000 commuters a day — was considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete with substandard pedestrian and cycling lanes. The crossing “was definitely in need of an overhaul,” says Everett Lott, the acting director of the District Department of Transportation.

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