Aqueduct Bridge (Potomac River)
The Aqueduct Bridge, also called the Alexandria Aqueduct, was a bridge that carried traffic between Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and Rosslyn, Virginia, from 1843 to 1923.
Aqueduct Bridge | |
|---|---|
First Aqueduct Bridge between 1860 and 1865 | |
| Coordinates | 38°54′15″N 77°04′14″W |
| Carried | Cargo-carrying boats |
| Crossed | Potomac River |
| Locale | Georgetown, Washington, D.C. |
| Other name(s) | Alexandria Aqueduct |
| Named for | Aqueduct |
| Heritage status | Historic American Engineering Record |
| Followed by | Key Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Wood |
| Width | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Height | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| No. of spans | 9 |
| History | |
| Designer | Brevet Major William Turnbull, Superintending Topographical Engineer of the construction of the Potomac Aqueduct at Georgetown, D. C., 1832‑43 |
| Engineering design by | United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers |
| Construction start | 1833 |
| Construction end | 1843 |
| Construction cost | $240,000 |
| Opened | 1843 |
| Collapsed | 1933 |
| Closed | 1923 |
| Location | |
It was built to transport cargo-carrying boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown across the Potomac River to the Alexandria Canal. The same eight piers supported two different bridges: a wooden canal bridge (a wooden roadway bridge was added on top of the canal later) and an iron truss bridge carrying a roadway and an electric trolley line. The bridge was closed in 1923 after the construction of the nearby Key Bridge, and demolished in 1933.
One arched stone abutment on the Georgetown (north) end survives; it is overseen by the National Park Service as an historic site.