NEW ARLINGTON BRIDGE SITE SELECTED
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 18, 1922, President Warren G. Harding, as chairman of the Arlington Memorial Bridge* committee, made a personal inspection of two proposed sites.
Afterwards, the committee "decided that the plans will be prepared for the construction of the low land bridge from the Lincoln Memorial across the river to a point on Columbia Island**."
The plans include construction of a large memorial arch.
Back at the White House, the President thanked members of the Fine Arts Commission for their input on the project.
JFK+50 NOTE
The idea for the AMB came from an incident involving President Harding who in 1921 got stuck in a 3 hour traffic jam attempting to reach Arlington cemetery to dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
*Arlington Memorial Bridge opened to day & night traffic in 1932. It is a neoclassical masonry, steel & stone arch bridge. It originally had a drawbridge but in 1961 the drawbridge was replaced with one that is inoperable.
**Columbia Island became Lady Bird Johnson Park in 1968. It is located in the Potomac River & is 1.32 miles in length.
SOURCE
"Lincoln Memorial Selected As Site For New Bridge," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 18, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
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