page_title: 14th Street bridges
section_title: Long Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: 14th Street bridges / History / Long Bridge
context_page_description: The 14th Street bridges refers to the three bridges near each other that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C.. Sometimes the two nearby rail bridges are included as part of the 14th Street bridge complex. A major gateway for automotive, bicycle and rail traffic, the bridge complex is named for 14th Street, which feeds automotive traffic into it on the D.C. end.
  The complex contains three four-lane automobile bridges—one northbound, one southbound, and one bi-directional — that carry Interstate 395 and U.S. Route 1 traffic, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian lane on the southbound bridge. In addition, the complex contains two rail bridges, one of which carries the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro; the other of which, the only mainline rail crossing of the Potomac River to Virginia, carries a CSX Transportation rail line. The five bridges, from west to east are the George Mason Memorial Bridge, the Rochambeau Bridge, the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, the Charles R. Fenwick Bridge and the Long Bridge.
context_section_description: The name "Long Bridge" was given to a series of bridges across the Potomac dating back to 1809. At times, some of the bridges were referred to as the Bridge at 14th Street, but more often by other names. 
  The first bridge opened as the Washington Bridge on May 20, 1809 and originally carried vehicle, pedestrian and horse traffic. By the 1830s it began to be called the "long Bridge across the Potomac" to distinguish it from the bridge near Little Falls, but over time, the colloquial name was shortened to just the "Long Bridge". Rails had been built to the bridge from the Washington side in 1855 and from the Virginia side in 1857, but there weren't placed on the bridge until the Civil War. 
  In 1864, a new bridge was built adjacent to the original bridge. When the U.S. Military railroad Charles Minot fell through one of the spans of the old bridge on February 18, 1865, the rails were moved to the new bridge and the old bridge became used for non-rail traffic only, as had been recommended in the prior year. To some the old bridge became the "turnpike bridge" and the new one the "railroad bridge." For others the two bridges were referred to separately as the Long Bridge and the railroad bridge or as two parts of one "Long Bridge".
  An October 1, 1870 flood damaged the bridges beyond repair so a replacement bridge was built over the next two years and the old Washington Bridge was removed. 
  The new bridge opened on May 15, 1872. The day the new bridge opened, the old railroad bridge, which had been partially repaired, was closed.  On July 2, the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway opened, providing the first direct all-rail connection between the north and Richmond, Virginia. 
  Despite the new design, the 1872 bridge continued to be damaged by freshets, it blocked river traffic and was not wide enough for two tracks; so two new bridges were built. A new railroad bridge was constructed in 1904 and a new Highway Bridge opened in December 1906. The 1872 bridge was closed on December 18, 1906 and demolished in 1907.
  The current railroad bridge opened on August 28, 1904, about 150 feet (45 m) upriver from the old bridge. In the early years, the bridge was often referred to as the "Railroad Bridge" to distinguish it from "Highway Bridge". It was also sometimes known as the "14th Street Railroad Bridge". It wasn't until the 1980s, during planning of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) system, that the railroad bridge again began to be called by the old "Long Bridge" name. VRE began using the bridge in 1992. 
  The bridge was substantially reconstructed starting in mid-1942, with 11 new supplemental piers between the original truss spans and steel plate girders replacing the iron and steel truss spans.  Work completed on November 9, 1943. 
  When the Mason Bridge was completed in 1962, it put an end to almost all use of the Long Bridge's draw span. The last time it was opened was March 1969 to allow barges used in the removal of the old Highway Bridge to pass through. The tender's control house, or shanty, on top of the draw remained - often used as a billboard for Georgetown crew races until it was removed in late 1982 or early 1983.
  The bridge was rehabilitated in 2016 and CSX determined that it was sufficient to meet their freight needs, but in 2019 DDOT and FRA reported that a second bridge was needed to serve increased passenger rail needs. A third bridge was also proposed to create a new bicycle/pedestrian crossing. In 2019, Virginia announced that they would pay to build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River north of the Long Bridge.
caption: Aerial view of the 14th Street Bridges in 1965, with the old Highway Bridge still in place.
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