Aqueduct Bridge (Potomac River)

Aqueduct Bridge
First Aqueduct Bridge between 1860 and 1865
Coordinates38°54′15″N 77°04′14″W / 38.9042°N 77.0706°W / 38.9042; -77.0706
CarriedCargo-carrying boats
CrossedPotomac River
LocaleGeorgetown, Washington, D.C.
Other name(s)Alexandria Aqueduct
Named forAqueduct
Heritage statusHistoric American Engineering Record
Followed byKey Bridge
Characteristics
MaterialWood
Width110 ft (34 m)
Height30 ft (9.1 m)
No. of spans9
History
DesignerBrevet Major William Turnbull, Superintending Topographical Engineer of the construction of the Potomac Aqueduct at Georgetown, D. C., 1832‑43
Engineering design byUnited States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
Construction start1833
Construction end1843
Construction cost$240,000
Opened1843
Collapsed1933
Closed1923
Location
Map

The Aqueduct Bridge, also called the Alexandria Aqueduct, was a bridge that carried traffic between Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and Rosslyn, Virginia, from 1843 to 1923.

It was built to transport cargo-carrying boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown across the Potomac River to the Alexandria Canal. The same eight piers supported two bridges: a wooden canal bridge and an iron truss bridge carrying a roadway and an electric trolley line. The canal was later topped with a wooden roadway bridge. The bridge was closed in 1923 after the construction of the nearby Key Bridge, and demolished in 1933.

One arched stone abutment on the Georgetown (north) end survives; it is overseen by the National Park Service as an historic site.