Beam woes close part of span over Potomac
WASHINGTON — District officials abruptly closed part of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge on a major commuter route between Washington and Northern Virginia late Friday, saying the span needed emergency repairs after an inspection found steel support beams had continued to deteriorate.
The 58-year-old bridge, which carries Interstate 66 over the Potomac River, will be limited to two outer lanes in each direction while the three middle lanes are closed for three to six months, according to the District Department of Transportation. Vehicle weights will be restricted to 10 tons.
D.C. transportation officials said a consultant’s inspection one year ago found deterioration in the steel support beams. District Department of Transportation inspectors saw in the past week that the problem had grown significantly worse.
The bridge has been federally required to have a consultant inspection every two years since it was rated in “poor” condition in 2018, officials said. The city has a consultant inspection done annually and does its own inspections about twice a month, a District Department of Transportation spokesman said.
Department Director Everett Lott said Saturday that closing some lanes to limit vehicle weight on the bridge was “something we’ve been talking about.” However, he decided Friday to close the inner lanes about 10 p.m. after hearing the forecast for up to 2 inches of snow on Sunday, which would require plows and other heavy equipment on the bridge.
The District Department of Transportation tweeted a traffic advisory at 10:45 p.m., saying the lane closures were “effective immediately.”
The bridge, which typically carries more than 150,000 vehicles daily, has not had a major rehabilitation since it opened in 1964, Lott said. A department spokesman said the steel beams have corroded over time from the salt mixture laid down for snowstorms.
The work won’t start until materials arrive — a schedule that could be affected by pandemic-era delays in the supply chain, Lott said. However, department officials said, they wanted to limit stress on the bridge in the meantime and try to complete the work before the onslaught of summer tourist traffic.
The District Department of Transportation will either replace or repair the deteriorated beams depending on the availability of materials, Lott said.
The goal is to enable the bridge to safely support the weight of regular traffic until a full rehabilitation can be done in a couple of years using federal funding the city expects to receive as part of the recently approved $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, he said.