Evening star., 1949-10-02
Whitehurst's Dream FreewQy
Will Be Dedicated Saturday

Cl GSOIl.
Louis Justement, prominent
Washington architect. was con-
sultant on the project and the firm
of Harrington and Cortelyou OF
Kansas City, Mo-, was the con-
sulting engineering group.
The resident engineer is Carl A..
Wilson. who has directly super
vised the day-to-day work on the
job and who did preliminary de-
sign work on the project. He saw
the project grow up. For he did
the preliminary spadework, going
from door to Il door along the
Georgetown water front tn that
heavy industry area to make sure
that none Of the supporting col
umns of the Freeway, when con-.
structed. would interfere with ac-
cess to business properties.
The Baltimore e. Ohio Rail-
roads freight tracks, serving the
big business establishments in that
section and providing coal for the
new Government Heating Plant
and unloading yards. run directly
under the new Freeway. To in
sure that this rail transportation
would not be interfered with, dur
ing and after construction. was
another engineering problem that
had to be met.
Iowa Firm Worked On Job.
The firm of Alexander g. Repass
of Des Moines. Iowa, was the gen.
eral contractor on the job. The
Bethlehem Steel Co., from its
Pottstown PaD plant, furnished
the steel. 1t was erected with the
aid of a special railroad steel car
equipped to handle the heavy
beams.
The Whitehurst Freeway is one
of four major highway projects
the District Government has had
under way in the postwar period.
The others are: Dupont Circle
Underpass; the new span across
the Potomac River at Fourteenth
street NV. and the new South
Capitol street bridge across the
Anacostia River.
Some cleanup work remains to
be done on the Whitehurst Free
way. Painters yesterday were f1n-
ishing up the last touches on the
light green structure to insure
that it will be ready for Satur-
days dedication. The lights and
electric power are already in
stalled. New lights have been put
in place to light up K street also.
Under the ramps are remnants of
construction aids to be cleared
away, and the shacks used by the
contractor and District Govern
ment must be removed.
At the height of construction,
300 men worked on the project.
mainly putting up steel and pour
ing concrete. The carpenters
strike this summer and that of
the cement truck drivers delayed
the job. Then there was the diff
ficulty of getting steel piling in
the early stages of construction,
and the weather added to the
problems of the engineers. Officials
originally had hoped to complete
the Whitehurst Freeway in July.
Douglas s. Brinkley, planning
engineer for the Highway Depart
ment said the traffic count made
in conjunction with the Bureau
of Public Roads, Maryland and
Virginia authorities recently, will
determine the next major project
in Capt. Whitehurst's program.
This will show the origin and des-
tination of autos. But compiling
this report is a vast job and Mr..
Brinkley does not expect it to be
completed until year from
Christmas. But Mr.. Brinkley ex-
poets the Arizona avenue Freeway,
the next logical step, will be a
reality in the near future. This
will run through the Glover Arch
bold Parkway, through Foundry
Branch valley to Tenley Circle,
linking up with the Whiteh',rst
Freeway by way Of Canal road.
New bridges at Reservoir road,
New Mexico avenue, Massachusetts,
avenue and possibly Cathedral
avenue across the valley are plan
ned as part Of this program.