Duke Ellington Bridge

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Looking west over the Duke Ellington Bridge
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Looking west over the Duke Ellington Bridge

The Duke Ellington Bridge, named after Duke Ellington, carries Calvert Street, N.W., over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. It connects 18th Street, N.W., in Adams Morgan with Connecticut Avenue, N.W., in Woodley Park, just north of the Taft Bridge. It was designed by Paul Philippe Cret in a neoclassical style and built in 1935. The bridge has security fencing because it is a suicide bridge, probably the best known suicide bridge in Washington.

The bridge replaced one built in 1891 by the Rock Creek Railway to carry streetcars. The bridge was a steel trestle bridge with a wooden floor, 750 feet long and 130 feet high. To avoid service disruption, the old bridge was moved 80 feet south during the construction of the Duke Ellington Bridge; however, streetcar service was discontinued before the new bridge opened.

[edit] External links

Historic American Engineering Record (HAER No DC-23)