Credit: Ben Schumin, CC BY-SA 3.0

As part of the project, Skanska will convert the current 175-ft-long double-leaf bascule span bridge into a fixed span using accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques. Because the bridge carries approximately 90,000 motorists daily, the new span will be built adjacent to the existing structure and floated into place during a 56-hour weekend shutdown. The project is being funded jointly by DDOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

On January 13, 1982, the bridge was struck by Air Florida Flight 90 as it crashed in the river, the result of snow and ice that accumulated on the aircraft’s wings prior to take-off from nearby Washington National Airport. Following repairs to the bridge deck and concrete parapet, the structure was renamed in memory of Arland D. Williams, Jr., an Air Florida passenger who repeatedly passed a rescue helicopter lifeline to other passengers in the icy water. Williams drowned before he too could be rescued. A total of 78 people died in the incident, including four people in cars on the bridge.

Skanska is also part of a design-build joint venture with FlatironDragados for the adjacent $1-billion Long Bridge North project, which will replace the existing one-mile, two-track corridor with a new four-track alignment to significantly increase the crossing’s freight and passenger rail capacity.