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List of all Event Photo Galleries
A Trip Around the 11th Street Bridges Project
Sept. 14, 2012
For more information about the construction, including "before" photos, see my project page.
Stitched-together panorama showing the under-construction ramp that will take traffic from the outbound 11th Street Freeway Bridge/I-695 to northbound DC-295. It should open by the end of the year. ( See enlarged version.)
The final steel girders going in on the new ramp.
Standing on the old inbound 11th Street Bridge, looking at the two new freeway bridges and the rising under-construction ramp to northbound DC-295.
The final girder for the ramp to northbound DC-295, laying on the ground and about to be lifted into place.
A last look, most likely, at the old inbound 11th Street Bridge. (The port-a-potty is a nice touch.)
The new 11th Street local bridge at right, with the under-construction downriver lanes. At left is what remains of the old outbound 11th Street Bridge, with the decking having been removed.
A worker walking along the under-construction downriver portion of the new 11th Street Local Bridge.
The old outbound bridge, with the girders starting to be removed (you can see some sunlight in the center). The in-water piers are being kept, and there will be viewing platforms built on the two center ones that will be accessed from the pedestrian path of the new 11th Street Local Bridge.
The new bridge at left, and the old bridge at right, near the entrance to the Navy Yard Riverwalk.
The view to the northeast from the Navy Yard Riverwalk gate is a whole lot of nothing now, compared to before, when the old outbound bridge loomed over the path and brick wall.
Couldn't resist this view beneath the two I-695 spans.
Before too long, the ramps marked C-3 and C-4 on this drawing will be opening, bringing 11th Street Local Bridge access to southbound I-295 and from northbound DC-295.
A cruddy photo showing the about-to-open intersection where traffic from northbound DC-295 (ramp C-4) can either turn right to head into Anacostia or turn left to go across the 11th Street Local Bridge. On the other end of the bridge is the about-to-open ramp to southbound I-295 (ramp C-3). Both should be in operation by the end of the month.
Looking east at the about-to-open intersection on the 11th Street Local Bridge with the new ramp to southbound I-295 (ramp C-3). When these two intersections open, pedestrian and bike traffic will be routed onto the sidewalk at right.
This may look like a terribly boring photogrqaph, but it shows the concrete in the right lane of the local bridge that was set to be easily pulled up, if/when streetcar tracks need to be laid.
Shifting back to the west side of the river, work continues on demolishing the last portion of the old outbound freeway approach in order to connect the 11th Street Local Bridge with 11th Street. You can see the bridge in the distance, and traffic will flow in both directions on this stretch of 11th Street near the Navy Yard.
Looking north along 11th Street at N Street, where soon the stone facing will be added to the embankment for the new ramp from 11th and M to outbound I-695.
What drivers coming inbound on the 11th Street Local Bridge currently see. Before too much longer, instead of turning right and then left on 12th Street, drivers will continue straight ahead from this location, toward the Navy Yard and M Street. There will also be a sidewalk at right, along the embankment. For more before and after photos from 11th and O, go here.
Not much left for the embankment wall on the north side of O to hold up anymore.
If you've driven on the stretch of the Southeast Freeway near Barney Circle and have wondered what the deal is with the big piles of dirt that have sprouted.... It's dirt saved from other areas of the project that will soon be used to fill in the sunken Southeast Freeway between 8th and 13th Streets SE as part of its makeover into Southeast Blvd., which will be about 20 feet higher than the current road.
Taking a break from the photos to display an early design of the plans for the intersection of 11th Street, I-695, and I-395. (You'll need this to help visualize what's explained in the photos below.) There are some differences between what's seen here and what will finally be built, but it's a decent general guide. And here's a really big version to look at.
An overhead view rom above 11th Street of the sunken Southeast Freeway lanes. The right lane seen here has already been closed, and by early 2013 all traffic in both directions will be closed to begin work on the at-grade Southeast Blvd.. The filling in will begin in the distance where you see the grass shoulder, running to 11th Street, seen below in its current bridge format but which will be replaced with an at-grade street, and then onto 13th Street. There will also be a new flyover ramp from the Southeast Freeway to outbound I-695, replacing the flyover seen at top.
On the Southeast Freeway between 12th and 13th Street, SE, where the filling-in is already getting underway. East of 13th, the new Boulevard will connect to a refashioned Barney Circle, although that particular design has not yet been decided on. (Note that the filling-in at right is happening on a ramp up to 11th Street that had already been under construction before the Phase 2 design and contract were approved. It wouldn't be a federal road project without some waste, I guess.)
The view to the westbound Southeast Freeway from the almost complete new flyover from the new inbound I-695 bridge. However, once the sunken freeway lanes are closed, traffic currently running to outbound I-695 on the ramp seen at far left will be diverted onto this new flyover, which allows for the demolition of the old two-lane outbound flyover and construction of a new three-lane one.
Turning around to look eastward on the new flyover ramp. At far right is the to-be-demolished old two-lane outbound ramp to I-695. The new three-lane outbound flyover ramp will be built in the gap between these two bridges. Traffic to outbound I-695 will temporarily run on this ramp until construction of the new one is completed.
Pretty sure I won't get to stand in this spot again, in the middle of the not-yet-in-use flyover connecting I-695 and I-395.
Looking down at the work on the new ramp from 11th Street SE to the westbound Southeast Freeway, which is supposed to open by the end of the year. This will give access to the westbound freeway from the area without having to drive down I Street and Virginia Avenue all the way to the 3rd Street ramp.
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