Evening star., 1924-09-07
BRIDGE to Join Lincoln Memorial and Lee Hon

wall 30 feet high. which will be deco
rated with memorial inches and in
| scribed tablets From sides of this
plaza roads will radiate to the Lee
Mansion and other sections of the ma
.1onai cemetery and also to Mount
vernon home of George Washington.
The approach to the homes of Wash
, ington and Lee will be made more at
tractive by planting of elm trees and
shrubs in a strip of parking which will
occupy the center of the bridge road
way from Columbia Island Plaza to
Virginia.
Forty statues will be placed along
balustrades on the bridge. The deco
ration of sides of the span will consist
stream sides Of each of the ten piers
which will support the bridge
One hundred and forty ornamental
lamp posts each bearing two lamps,
will be erected on the bridge, its plazas
and Columbia Island, so that at night
as well as at day the memorial will add
to Washingtons reputation as the city
of magnificent vistas.''
X x x
THE total length of the structure,
from Lincoln Memorial to Lee
Plaza, will be 5,S0S feet. Its width is te
be 80 feet-60 feet for roadway and -
feet for Sidewalks-frOm the Lincoln
Memorial to Columbia Island. From Co
lumbia Island to Virginia it will be ap-
proximately twice this wide because of
the parking which is to occupy the CEN
ter of the roadway.
The bridge will be as low as sound
engineering will permit. so that it
will not interfere with view of the
Lincoln Memorial from Arlington or
Columbia Island
The central arch of the structure
Will be draw span of steel to allow
ships to pass up and down the river.
This draw will be painted white, to
harmoniZe with the rest of the me-
mortal.
Improvement of two Northwest
Washington streets-B and Twenty
thirds included in the Memorial
Bridge program.
b street is the most direct route
from the Capitol to the Arlington
Cemetery, so the commission plans to
extend it from the Lincoln Memorial
eastward to the Capitol grounds, to
increase its width to 12O feet and to
pave it with asphalt throughout. The
street thus would become broad
boulevard, bordering the Mali, as well
as providing a straight course from
Capitol TO Lincoln Memorial and Ma
tional Cemetery.
Twenty-third street is to be widen
ed from Washington Circle southwark
to the Lincoln Memorial. Motorists
need of wider streets leading to the
Memorial and to Arlington, especially
on public occasions, has been voiced
and widening of B and Twenty-third
streets is intended to meet this de-
mand.
COST of executing the complete
~ memorial program is estimated
at nearly s15.o00,000. The bridge
proper will cost s7,25O,OOO: the Lin
coin Memorial Plaza and water gate,
s1.000.000; Columbia Island, ,s2,SS0,-
0G0: the Virginia terminus plaza, ST.
100000; extension and widening of B
street, s2,070.000, and widening of
Twenty-third street, s16G,O00.
The most expensive single item in
the bridge estimates is concrete for
piers. Uncle Sam will have to pay
$2,S00,000 to obtain the 100, 900 cubic
yards of concrete needed for this
work. White granite, with which to
cover all the bridge. except its road
way, will cost s1,2o0.o0o. The small
est item of the bill is models for
lamp posts. $780,
Work and expenditures are to ex-
tend over a 10-year period. The bridge
proper will be completed in 1929, if il
can be assumed that funds asked soon
will be available. The remaining half
OF the lo-year program will be de-
voted to improvement of Columbia
Island and completion of landscape
work at entrances to the span.
When the task is completed, Amer
ica will have executed what Presi-
dent Coolidge has described as "the
greatest single memorial project un-
dertaken by any nation in recent
times" And Americans will possess
a worthy approach to their Capital.