The Arlington Memorial Bridge is scheduled to close to all traffic September 15-17 to allow for pre-construction work/NPS

Weather permitting, all six lanes and both sidewalks of Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., will be closed from 7 p.m. on Friday, September 14, to 5 a.m. on Monday, September 17. Boaters in the Potomac River should approach the bridge with caution and avoid the area near its center span. Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians will need to use alternative routes to cross the Potomac River.

“Please do not enter the closed area. Illegal entry will slow work on the bridge because construction activities will have to stop until people leave the area,” Superintendent Alexcy Romero said.

During this closure, work crews will:

• Move barges on the Potomac River

• Bring a crane next to the bridge on a barge

• Cut holes in the bridge deck’s center span

• Lower steel supports into the bed of the Potomac River through the holes in the bridge deck

• Cover holes in the bridge deck to allow drivers to use the bridge again

Last year the Federal Highway Administration told the Park Service that, due to the bridge's deterioriating condition, the span would be closed to traffic in 2021 without a full rehabilitation. 

Last December Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced he had found a way to fund the repairs without Congress's help: The $227 million would come, in part, from $74 million in Federal Lands Transportation Program funds along with $33 million, or roughly one-fourth, of the Park Service's annual construction budget. Another $30 million was made available through an amendment U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, attached to the Fiscal 2017 Appropriations Act, and the remaining $90 million from a FASTLANE grant.

When the work begins to replace the bridge’s road deck around mid-October, three lanes and a sidewalk will close to all use. During that work, the traffic pattern and sign detours for pedestrians and cyclists will change. The closure from September 14-17 is to prepare the bridge for that work and needs to happen so that crews are prepared to begin work on time. You can learn about how construction will change the ways you use the bridge at go.nps.gov/MemorialBridge.

When the September weekend closure ends, four lanes will reopen, but intermittently two will be closed to prepare for upcoming work.  

During the next two-and-a-half years you can expect a limited number of full bridge closures on weekends and occasional, along with short full closures of the bridge at night. The next full weekend closure is tentatively planned for November.

Since its dedication in 1932, Arlington Memorial Bridge has served as a monument to national sacrifice and valor—a symbol of reunification, spanning the historic divisions of North and South. As one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in National Park Service history, the rehabilitation of Arlington Memorial Bridge will give new life to the capital’s ceremonial entrance while respecting its character, history and national significance.