Woodrow Wilson Bridge wins Lindenthal Medal

Woodrow Wilson Bridge wins Lindenthal Medal

The Woodrow Wilson Bridge (WWB) Project, which spans the Potomac River connecting Virginia and Maryland, won the 2009 Gustav Lindenthal Medal. It was honored for resolving a renowned transportation bottleneck through technical innovation, environmental stewardship, capacity and efficiency improvements, and transit alternatives. The project was completed in 2008 on-time and within its $2.5 billion budget.

The award, sponsored by Bayer MaterialScience LLC, was presented to the Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) by Karsten Danielmeier, Ph.D., vice president, business development, Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties, Bayer MaterialScience LLC, during the annual International Bridge Conference (IBC) in Pittsburgh.

Potomac Crossing Consultants (PPC), a joint venture of Parsons Brinckerhoff, URS, and Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP, provided program and construction management support to the primary partners—MSHA and VDOT—as well as the project's many other sponsors and consultants.

The bridge is noteworthy structurally, as well as aesthetically. Structurally, the bridge features the largest movable span in the world, and each of the structure's eight drawspans is designed to close within a 1/8-inch tolerance. Aesthetically, the design of the river crossing features an arch appearance that calls to mind other bridges in the Washington, D.C. area, as well as other "monumental" structures in the area. The V-piers maintain the arch theme, while functionally serving to minimize horizontal loads.

The bridge is environmentally significant, as well. As part of the project, five artificial reefs were created in the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, more than 52 acres of new wetlands were created and more than 94 acres were restored or preserved. Also, the project reestablished streams for fish spawning and developed a contained bubble-curtain system to eliminate fish mortality during pile driving.

The culmination of the WWB Project is a functioning six-lane highway spanning the Potomac, reduced traffic congestion, renewed wetlands, and an on-time, on-budget signature structure.

"The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project is an excellent example of how approaching a mega-project such as this one holistically—from a social, economic, and sustainable design perspective—can result in an achievement that is successful on many fronts," said Danielmeier. "For all its achievements, we are pleased to add the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project to the elite group of this prestigious award's past winners."

One of five awards given annually at the IBC, the Gustav Lindenthal Medal was created in 1999 to honor a recent outstanding achievement that best demonstrates technical and material innovation together with aesthetic merit, harmony with the environment, or successful community participation.

Gustav Lindenthal was one of America's most celebrated bridge engineers, and is widely admired for his innovative ideas, vision, and foresight during the technology boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.