The 4-lane Rochambeau Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River was opened around 1950. It connects Arlington, Virginia with the District of Columbia. The 4-lane George Mason Memorial Bridge was opened in 1962, and became the southbound roadway; the Rochambeau (pronounced "Roe' shim boe") span became one-way northbound. A third bridge, between the other two, was opened around 1972, with two lanes each way for the express lanes. The Rochambeau bridge was redecked and had a bascule draw span eliminated in 1975, and the George Mason bridge was redecked in the early 1980s. The Rochambeau bridge was later renamed the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, after a heroic passenger who perished while saving others from the icy waters in the 1982 Air Florida B-737 airline disaster. The plane was taking off in a snowstorm from nearby Washington National Airport, and lost altitude and hit the deck and parapet of the Rochambeau span and went into the frozen river between it and the express span (they are a couple hundred yards apart). There were only five survivors out of 79 people on board, and 4 motorists on the bridge died also. The express span was named the Rochambeau Bridge. The naming/renaming of the bridges is a bit confusing. So the 14th Street bridge has 12 lanes on three separate bridges, a |4| |2-2| |4| arrangement. The 14th Street Bridge is in D.C.; the boundary is the Virginia shoreline. Just a couple hundred yards downstream of the highway bridges, is the WMATA Metrorail Yellow Line bridge (opened April 30, 1983), and the CSX Transportation railroad bridge, which carries freight, Amtrak, and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter trains.

The 14th Street Bridge carries I-395 and US-1, joining Shirley Highway in Virginia to the Southwest Freeway in D.C.

Sources: Personal notes on dates, and air crash. Opening date on WMATA bridge, from their website.