Huge Arlington Memorial Bridge Project Takes Major Step

ARLINGTON, VA — The rehabilitation of the crumbling Arlington Memorial Bridge just took a huge step forward this week, with the National Park Service completing the planning process and moving on to the design phase.

The NPS announced in a statement that they had carefully reviewed a number of options and chose Alternative 1B, which would involve "the repair of the concrete arches and stone facades on the 10 approach spans, the replacement of the bascule span’s steel superstructure, the reconstruction of the bridge deck and sidewalks and the resurfacing of all travel lanes."

This will be one of the biggest transportation projects in NPS history, and will cost $250 million. The NPS has had to make emergency repairs to the bridge of the last few years to keep it operational, but a full scale overhaul is needed in order to prevent a total shutdown of the bridge in 2021.

The NPS recently received a $90 million grant for the bridge, which will go toward the $250 million needed for full rehabilitation. The NPS committed another $50 million to the project through the Federal Lands Transportation Program.

Image via NPS