THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: 26 lines
A bridge that looks something like Washington, D.C.'s famous stone monuments could be the best option to replace the decrepit Potomac River bridge that connects Virginia with Maryland, planners say.
Graceful concrete arches soaring more than 150 feet into the air and carrying 12 lanes of traffic would be both functional and beautiful, say many of the officials mulling options for a new Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
The bridge would have a distinctly Washington look by building arches like those on Washington's other Potomac crossings, as well as the Jefferson Memorial and even National Airport's new main terminal.
The crumbling six-lane bridge was designed 35 years ago to carry 75,000 vehicles a day, but now carries 172,000.
A high bridge would cost about $1.6 billion, engineers estimate.
Planners are talking about creating a ``signature'' structure to carry the Capital Beltway between Alexandria and Prince George's County, Md. It would do for the Potomac what the Golden Gate Bridge does for San Francisco Bay and the Brooklyn Bridge does for the East River. That's the theory, at least. by CNB