Union Arch Bridge

Infobox_nrhp | name =Union Arch Bridge
nrhp_type =

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caption = Union Arch Bridge in 2008. The Cabin John Parkway is seen running underneath the bridge.
location= Cabin John, Maryland
lat_degrees = 38
lat_minutes = 58
lat_seconds = 22.28
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 77
long_minutes = 8
long_seconds = 52.69
long_direction = W
locmapin =
area =
built =1864
architect= Meigs, Montgomery C.
architecture=
added = February 28, 1973
governing_body = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
refnum=73000932 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-05-05|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service Listed as "Cabin John Aqueduct."] The Union Arch Bridge, also called the "Cabin John Bridge," is a historic masonry structure in Cabin John, Maryland. It was designed as part of the Washington Aqueduct and as a roadway bridge. The bridge construction began in 1857 and was completed in 1864. The roadway surface was added later. The bridge was designed and built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers under the direction of Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs. [Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. Washington, D.C. [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0255 "Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Collection: Record No. MD-53."] Labeled as "Cabin John Aqueduct Bridge." Record originally prepared by National Park Service, 1987.]

Bridge design

The bridge, with an overall length of ft to m|450|abbr=yes and width of ft to m|20|abbr=yes, is constructed of sandstone and granite, and rises ft to m|101|abbr=yes above Cabin John Creek. The main arch span is ft to m|220|abbr=yes feet long and rises ft in to m|57|3|abbr=yes. The bridge has an internal spandrel wall structure that contains nine additional smaller arches, which are concealed from view by exterior stone sidewalls. [Maryland State Highway Administration. Baltimore, MD. [http://www.sha.state.md.us/keepingcurrent/maintainRoadsBridges/bridges/OPPE/historicBridges/IV-OSign.pdf "Historic Highway Bridges in Maryland: 1631-1960: Historic Context Report."] Chapter 4, "Stone Arch Bridges." October 1995.] At the time of its construction, the main span was the longest single-span masonry arch in the world.cite web |url=http://www.chesterwalls.info/grosvenor.bridge.html |title=The Grosvenor Bridge, Chester |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls of Chester |publisher=Black & White Picture Place] It retained that distinction for 40 years. [cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/choh/historyculture/thewashingtonaqueductsystem.htm |title=The Washington Aqueduct System |accessdate=2008-07-09 |work=Chesapeake and Ohio Canal |publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior ] Previously, that honour had gone to the Grosvenor Bridge which crosses the River Dee in Chester, England and which was opened by the thirteen-year-old Princess Victoria (five years before becoming Queen) in October 1832. Visually, the similarities between the Union Arch Bridge and the Grosvenor Bridge are remarkable.

Controversy

The naming of the bridge has been somewhat confused, related to its completion during the period of the Civil War.

Union Arch inscription

While the bridge was being designed and constructed, it was referred to as "Union Arch", "Bridge No. 4" or "Cabin John Bridge" in drawings and government correspondence. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=WXcFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA577&lpg=PA577&dq=%22union+arch%22&source=web&ots=OL6AfHUXZM&sig=9eNCMz7U2V6NJNlmh1GhW1SReE0#PPA577,M1 "Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress: Report of Operations on the Washington Aqueduct,"] p. 577 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1861).] The latter two names, however, do not appear in any of the stone carvings that were eventually placed on the bridge. In 1861, as the bridge was nearing completion, the Army drew up initial plans for inscription of commemorative stone tablets to be installed on the bridge. Meigs, who had been promoted to the rank of Captain, issued an order in March 1861 for a tablet on the east bridge abutment. The text was to consist of a title, "Union Bridge," and the names of the principal designers, namely Meigs and Assistant Engineer Alfred L. Rives. By the time the war began, however, Rives had joined the Confederate Army. The final tablet design was modified with the title "Union Arch" and Rives' name was no longer included. [Harry C. Ways, "The Washington Aqueduct: 1852-1992," p. 51 (Baltimore, MD: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, 1996).]

Several publications have referred to the "Union Arch" of the Washington Aqueduct, [For example, Francis T. Miller and Robert S. Lanier, [http://books.google.com/books?id=nrqpjm2z8FoC "The Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes,"] p. 95. (New York: The Review of Reviews Co., 1911.)] but others refer to the structure as the Cabin John Bridge. [For example, Harvey W. Crew, William B. Webb and John Wooldridge, [http://books.google.com/books?id=5Q81AAAAIAAJ "Centennial History of the City of Washington, D.C.,"] p. 49 (Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House, 1892).]

Jefferson Davis inscription

The bridge design process had begun in 1853, during the administration of President Franklin Pierce and the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Captain Meigs' 1861 order also called for a tablet on the west bridge abutment, with the title, "Washington Aqueduct" and listing the political leaders that were in office both at the start of the project and at its completion (i.e., Pierce and Davis; President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Simon Cameron). By 1862, however, Davis had left the Union to become President of the Confederate States of America. There was resentment among some members of Congress about the inscription of Davis' name on the bridge, and this led to an order that his name be removed from the tablet. The Department of the Interior, which was managing the aqueduct at that time, ordered the removal of the inscription. [Ways, "op. cit.," p. 50.]

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt was asked by various constituents to restore Davis' name to the tablet. Roosevelt ordered the restoration. ["ibid.," p. 51.]

Twentieth century naming confusion

Some additional confusion over the bridge name arose when the Capital Beltway was constructed in the early 1960s, and the nearby Beltway bridge over the Potomac River was also called the "Cabin John Bridge." However, in 1969 the Beltway bridge was formally named the "American Legion Memorial Bridge."

Historic designations

The Union Arch Bridge was designated as a Historic National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1972 [American Society of Civil Engineers. Reston, VA. [http://www.asce.org/history/landmark/projects.cfm "Designated Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks."] Labeled as "Cabin John Aqueduct." Accessed February 2, 2008.] and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. [citation
publisher=National Park Service
url=http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/
title=National Register of Historic Places
id=NHRP No. 73000932
date=February 28, 1973
Note: this NHRP designation is listed as "Cabin John Aqueduct" and refers to the bridge. There is a separate NRHP designation for Washington Aqueduct which refers to the entire aqueduct system from Great Falls, Maryland to Washington, D.C.] Both designations refer to the bridge as the "Cabin John Aqueduct."

Current operation

The bridge continues to support the aqueduct, as well as a roadway, MacArthur Boulevard. The Army completed a renovation of the bridge in 2001. [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, MD. [http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/publications/Constellation/2001/dec01.pdf "Constellation" (Newsletter), Vol. 21, No. 12.] Page 5. December 2001.]

ee also

*Washington Aqueduct

References