Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge
Washington, DC
The new Frederick Douglass Bridge has changed the idea of what a Washington Bridge should be. The traditional model is the Memorial Bridge (inset) with the arches below the roadway. Now the arches are on top, and part of the users’ experience of the bridge.
Photographers have already the discovered that iconic presence that the bridge adds to the scene
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge is part of a plan to reconstruct South Capital Street, converting it from an industrial access road to an urban street and strengthening the street’s axial relationship to the US Capitol dome. The Fredrick Douglass Memorial Bridge carries South Capital street across the Anacostia River, but at an angle to the street’s axial alignment. The plan reconciles the geometry by introducing traffic ovals at each end of the bridge, recalling the circles and squares of L’Enfant’s original plan. The result will be to extend the traditional urban fabric of monumental Washington across the River into the long-neglected Anacostia section of the District.
The new Bridge serves travelers from Anacostia and the southern suburbs, as well as VIP visitors to Washington who land at Joint Base Andrews. It wecomes them with sleek, dramatic arches that share the viewscape with the Washington Monument and the Capitol Dome, as well as the stadium of the Washington Nationals (right).
Like Washington’s other monumental bridges, the Frederick Douglass Bridge includes generous sidewalks, at 18’ wide enough to be marked for separate pedestrian and bike paths. Balconies at each river pier allow pauses to rest and to view the Anacostia River waterfront and the Washington skyline.
Planned riverwalks will provide new opportunities for continuous connections at water level and accommodate river front recreation.
The new Bridge has become a landmark at night as well, Visible on the skyline from as far away as Arlington National Cemetary and Alexandria, Virginia. The colors of the lighting on the arch ribs can be changed at will to suite the season or national holidays.
Dedication Day: the new Frederic Douglass Memorial Bridge was welcomed by the community for its improvement to transportation and recreation facilities and, most of all, for its symbolism. The bridge recognizes that Anacostia is an integral part of the District, not a second class appendage. It extends to Anacostia the same monumental dignity that exist elesewhere in the capitol city.
