Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-03
FORMEM0R|AL BRIDGE
Ideas of Park Commission
More Fully Stated.
ARLINGTON CEMETERY
REGULATIONS NECESSARY FOR A
BEAUTIFUL DEVELOPMENT.
How Approaches to the Bridge Struc-
ture Should Be Guarded-His-
torical Facts of Interest.
ARLINGTON CEMETERY

When the complete report Of the park
commission is submitted to the Senate ii
will contain additional matter in relation to
| the project for memorial bridge and the
further development Of the country sur
rounding its approaches on both sides OF
the Potomac river. 1t will review the his
| tory of the project for such monumental
structure uniting the north and the south
and emphasize the opportunities for beau
tifying that portion Of the District of Co
lumbia and Virginia which the bridge
will abut. On the occasion of laying of the
corner stone for the extension of the Capt.
tol, the Fourth of July, 1851, Daniel
Webster, in the course of an impassioned
plea for preservation of the Union, which
in his prophetic vision seemed even then on
the verge of dissolution, exclaimed:
Before us is the broad and beautiful
river, separating two of the original
thirteen states which a late President, a
man of determined purpose and nfieXible
will, but patriotic heart desired to span
with arches of eVer-enduring granite, SYM
bolcal of the firmly established union of
the north and the south That President
was General Jackson
The struggle which the orator and the
statesman were powerless to avert brought
about the perpetuation OF the Union, ana
today. the heroes of that war, both those
of the north and those of the south, using
the words of President Mckinley. urge the
building of the memorial bridge, as mon
ument to American valor.
For the past seventeen years the memoir
ial bridge project has been before Congress
constantly. In response to the Senate res
olution of May "a 1856, Major Hams of the
Corps of Engineers, reported in favor OF
bridge of four spans, each about three
hundred feet in length. to extend from the
Washington bank of the Potomac to Ana
lostan Island; the island itself and the bed
of Little river to be crossed partly by an
embankment and partly began open trestle,
the cost for the entire work to be about
S650000. About the same time Captain Sy-
mons submitted a plan for a more elabor-
ate structure to extend from Observatory
hill to the national cemetery and govern
ment estate at Arlington. at a cost of ST.
500. 600. On February 20, 1880, the Senate
again called for study of the subject, and
in response Colonel Hams proposed a
bridge 1850 feet in length, extending from
New York avenue to the Arlington estate,
at cost of So. 591 COO
Subsequently several reports We're made
on bills to provide for a memorial bridge;
but the first legislation the subject is
found in the sundry civil act, approved
March 3, 1890, which appropriated $1,000 TO
enable the chief of engineers of the army
to continue the examination of the subject
and to make or secure designs. calculations
and estimates for a memorial bridge from
the most convenient point of the naval OBJ
servatory grounds, or adjacent thereto,
across the Potomac river to the most con-
venient point of the Arlington estate prop
erty.'
Bridge Designs Submitted.
Acting under the authority so conferred,
four bridge engineers, Messrs. L. l.. Buck,
William H. Burr. William R. Hutton and
George S. Morrison were invited to sub
NIT plans. These plans were submitted to
a jury composed of Lieut.. Col. Charles ].
D. Gaillard of the corps of engineer, and
Mr.. Stanford White and Mr.. James G. Hill,
architects, who reported in favor of a COM
bination of the designs submitted by Prof
Burr. The cost was estimated al "a, $50, 600;
and the structure proposed was a highly
decorated bridge eighty-four feet in width
adapted for street railway tracks and fitted
with a steel bascule draw. These plans
were submitted to Congress by the Secre-
tary of War April o, 1900 but thus far
no action upon them has been taken.
Up to the time this report was submitted
no study had been made for the develop
ment of the Potomac park, and for This
reason doubtless favorable consideration
was given to bridge plans which contained
in themselves features unusually elaborate
The studies which the park commission has
made for the Improvement Of Potomac
park, and the introduction in the park
proper of memorials of the largest type,
have led the commission to recommend GER
tain notifications in both the location and
the character OF the memorial DTlORe.
The proposed Lincoln memorial, located
on the bank of the Potomac on the axis of
the Capitol and the Washington monument.
and occupying an elevation forty feet above
the level of the water, makes a starting
point for the bridge that becomes especial
ly convenient, the commission believes,
when this round point is considered as
the point of divergence and reunion
Of the driveways leading to the Rock
Creek park system on the northwest and
the Potomac system on the southeast.
Moreover, the establishment of this con-
course allows the bridge to cross the river
at the angle most convenient, taking into
consideration both the channel OF the river
and the main objective point-the mansion
house at Arlington
Length Of Bridge Desirable.
Inasmuch as the comparatively fiat to-
biography Of the country makes undesirable
a high bride, under which vessels could
pass, the decreased length Of bridge re-
quired under the new plans Is in itself a
weighty consideration. At the same time
the necessity of placing a draw in the
bridge calls for such treatment of the
spans as shall not result in an apparent
weakening of the structure at Its central
and vital point
All these things considered the commits
sion recommends that the memorial bridge
proper begin at the proposed Lincoln
memorial and extend to Analostan Island
umental chara cter; that the spans be ar
ranged as to prevent uniform appearance,
the character of the draw used being such as
to bring about this result. Also that con-
course suited to memorial treatment be
established Analostan Island, and that
the extension of the passageway from the
island to the Virginia shore be distinctly
subordinate to the bridge proper.
The competition already mentioned hav-
ing resulted in the selection of one of the
leading bridge builders Of the country, 1t is
not considered necessary to do more than
to have the subject restudied in the light
of the new conditions. and to have such
notifications made in the plans as shall
adapt them to the principles above laid
down, all Of which may be accomplished
under the direction of the Secretary of War
when the necessary appropriations shall be
made Such notifications would call for
the removal Of the central ornamental tow
ers which would conflict with the proposed
Lincoln memorial, and which are not con-
sidered by the commission as in themselves
desirable features for the central portion
Of bridge structure.>
Development of Analostan Island.