page_title: John Philip Sousa Bridge
section_title: Seeking authorization and funding for the bridge
hierarchical_section_title: John Philip Sousa Bridge / The John Philip Sousa Bridge / Seeking authorization and funding for the bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Architectural drawings prepared by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the John Philip Sousa Bridge over the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The six-lane, reinforced concrete and steel bridge sits on masonry piers. This drawing was made on December 10, 1936, and was the plan approved by the United States Commission of Fine Arts for the Sousa Bridge, which replaced an 1890 iron truss bridge located on the same spot. Construction began on Sousa Bridge in August 1938. The south span opened on December 9, 1939. It was completed on January 15, 1941.
context_page_description: The John Philip Sousa Bridge, also known as the Sousa Bridge and the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge, is a continuous steel plate girder bridge that carries Pennsylvania Avenue SE across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The bridge is named for famous United States Marine Band conductor and composer John Philip Sousa, who grew up near the bridge's northwestern terminus.
  The first bridge at this location was constructed in 1804, but burned by United States armed forces in 1814 during the War of 1812. It was replaced in 1815, but the bridge burned to the waterline in 1846. The rapid growth of residential developments east of the Anacostia River led to the construction of a narrow, iron girder bridge in 1890. This bridge led to even swifter economic and residential development of the area. Efforts to replace the 1890 bridge with a modern structure began in 1931, but were not successful until 1938. The downstream span opened on December 9, 1939, to great fanfare. The upstream span was completed on January 18, 1941.
context_section_description: Captain Whitehurst's study, as expected, recommended approval of a new bridge in the same location as the existing bridge, and in President Roosevelt's fiscal 1938 budget for the city $325,000 was recommended to begin construction. This would allow surveys and designs to be completed. The total cost of the new span was estimated at $1.25 million. The Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, however, stripped the funding for a new bridge and inserted a $40,000 appropriation for repairs instead, after concluding that rising steel prices meant a new bridge could not be constructed for less than $2 million. The Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee restored the $325,000 appropriation on June 5. The full Senate adopted the subcommittee's recommendation on June 8. But the conference committee stripped the appropriation from the final bill.
  The new bridge received its name when the Southeast Citizens Association (led by member Orrin J. Davy) asked that the bridge be named for the Sousa (the "March King"), who died in 1932. Senator Royal S. Copeland (D-New York) introduced a resolution (S. 2651) on June 15, 1937, ordering the bridge to be named after famed composer, conductor, and D.C. native John Philip Sousa. The bill passed the Senate, but was not taken up in the House. Copeland reintroduced the measure (S. 494) on January 10, 1939, and it passed both houses of Congress on February 27. President Roosevelt signed it into law (Public Law No. 5) on March 7, 1939.
  Meanwhile, Captain Whithurst's preliminary design for the bridge was approved by both the National Capital Planning Commission and the United States Commission of Fine Arts.
  As the city began crafting is fiscal 1939 budget, Captain Whitehurst adopted a new legislative strategy. He submitted to the City Commissioners a five-year plan laying out all transportation infrastructure requirements for the national capital, prioritizing each item. Colonel Dan L. Sultan, the Engineer Commissioner, subsequently distributed Whitehurst's strategic plan to a wide range of federal agencies, private companies (such as utilities and streetcar companies), and citizen groups, seeking their input. The top priority for bridge construction was a new Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge. Whitehurst proposed spending $650,000 in fiscal 1939 to survey and design the structure and begin its construction. Whitehurst's proposal received the immediate support of the Hillcrest Citizens Association, which began lobbying the District Commissioners to seek the appropriation yet again.
  The City Commissioners duly submitted the budget request, and on January 6, 1938, the Bureau of the Budget submitted to Congress a city budget that listed an underpass at Dupont Circle and the new Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge as its top transportation infrastructure priorities. The authorized cost of the bridge was $2 million, with a 1939 appropriation of $650,000. But the chair of the Subcommittee on Appropriations in the House, Representative Ross A. Collins (D-Mississippi), argued that a far more important project was the K Street viaduct, a proposed elevated highway over K Street NW and Water Street NW between 26th Street NW and Key Bridge. As there was no opposition to the Dupont Circle underpass on fiscal grounds, the bridge appropriation would be deleted. The subcommittee also added funds for the Thomas Circle underpass. The Washington Board of Trade's bridge committee was outraged, and called for protests by all citizens associations in the city. Adelbert W. Lee, chair of the bridge committee, pointed out that more than 15,000 vehicles a day crossed the bridge (the oldest in the city), and that modern firefighting equipment could not cross the bridge due to weight restrictions. Lee said Collins' claim about opposition was untrue, and that both the Dupont Circle and Thomas Circle underpasses were opposed by some citizens while not a single protest had been registered against the bridge proposal. Nonetheless, the bill went to the House floor on January 27, 1938, without the bridge appropriation. Represe
caption: Design approved in 1937 by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts for the Sousa Bridge.
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