Structure 170-1 · District of Columbia County, DC

NB I-395 over Potomac River & Ohio Dr.

Carries NB I-395 over Potomac River & Ohio Dr., I-395 Over Potomac R SW.

Overall conditionFair

Set by its lowest-rated component: Deck and Superstructure and Substructure at 6 of 9.

How ratings work
Decksets the rating6/9 · Satisfactory
Superstructuresets the rating6/9 · Satisfactory
Substructuresets the rating6/9 · Satisfactory
Channelnot part of overall4/9 · Poor
0 failed4 poor6 fair9 excellent

Elevation

Side view, colored by inspection rating
SEMI-TRUCK · 72 FT2,434 FT OVERALL500 FT0ELEVATION · LENGTHS TO SCALE
Deck 6/9Superstructure 6/9Substructure 6/9

2,434 ft end to end: about 6.8 football fields. Lengths and the semi-truck on the deck are drawn to the same scale. Each part is colored by its latest inspection rating. The inventory records lengths but not heights or the layout of the shorter spans, so those are drawn as typical for a multi-beam bridge.

Built1950rebuilt 2010
Length2434.1 ft741.9 m
Daily traffic—reported figure implausible
Last inspectedJune 2023every 24 months

Location

StateDistrict of Columbia
CountyDistrict of Columbia
LocationI-395 Over Potomac R SW
CarriesNB I-395
CrossesPotomac River & Ohio Dr.
Coordinates38.87807, -77.03743

Physical Characteristics

MaterialSteel Continuous
DesignStringer/Multi-beam
Total Length2434.1 ft (741.9 m)
Max Span175.5 ft (53.5 m)
Deck Width65.0 ft (19.8 m)
Deck Area14689.6 sq m
Main Spans1
Year Built1950 (reconstructed 2010)

Traffic

Avg Daily Traffic249,000 (2018)
That is about 62,250 vehicles per lane per day — beyond what any U.S. road carries (the busiest freeways run about 25,000–30,000). It is almost certainly a data-entry error in the National Bridge Inventory, so we leave this bridge out of traffic rankings.
Truck Traffic4%
Lanes On Bridge4
Lanes Under Bridge2

Inspection & Ownership

Last InspectionJune 2023
Inspection FrequencyEvery 24 months
OwnerState Highway Agency
Historical SignificanceBridge is not eligible for the National Register
Scour Critical5 — Stable for scour
Structure Number0170-1

How Bridge Ratings Work

Inspectors rate each major part of a bridge (the deck you drive on, the superstructure of beams that holds it up, and the substructure of piers and abutments beneath) on a 0–9 scale. A bridge's overall condition is its lowest of those ratings, so one deteriorated component makes the whole bridge "poor."

0Failed
1Imminent failure
2Critical
3Serious
4Poor
5Fair
6Satisfactory
7Good
8Very good
9Excellent
Good · lowest component 7–9
Fair · lowest component 5–6
Poor · lowest component 0–4

A poor rating is not a closure. It means the bridge is flagged for priority repair or replacement; bridges judged unsafe are closed or posted with weight limits. The waterway (channel) rating is reported, but it does not count toward the overall classification.

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