Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over Potomac River

The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge on I-95/I-495 over the Potomac River is a vital link between Virginia and Maryland.  The bridge consists of 6 travel lanes in each direction and carries over 200,000 vehicles per day.  The $600 million Bridge was featured in numerous national technical publications and the Discovery Channel “Extreme Engineering” and the National Geographic Channel “Mega Structures”.

JSE was hired by the Contractor to provide construction engineering services on both the 270’ bascule span (Draw Bridge) over the main channel and the 3,300’ long, 9 span Maryland approach structure.  JSE produced over 6,000 sheets of integrated shop drawings, developed the structure’s geometry control, and calculated design stresses for all bridge elements during construction.  The falsework proposed on the contract plans indicated vertical towers and scaffolding to support the casting of the bascule arches.  JSE developed an innovative falsework method utilizing 70’ tall by 30’ wide steel sections that were both movable and reusable.  JSE’s construction engineering and falsework design innovations produced significant cost savings for the Contractor and the Owner.

Total Length: 559’ Bascule with Delta Frames over 270’ Clear Channel

Number of spans: 9 (Maryland Approach 3322’)

Width: 2 x 6 lanes = 12 lanes