A pickup truck mounted the sidewalk on the Arlington Memorial Bridge and crashed through the decorative masonry on its railing Wednesday evening. According to U.S. Park Police, the accident happened just before 8 p.m. on the inbound side of the bridge that looks over the Mt. Vernon Trail and the George Washington Parkway. Inbound lanes of the bridge were closed for over an hour. All lanes reopened around 9:10 p.m. No injuries were reported. The truck crashed into parts of the balustrade, destroying parts of the bridge’s railing. Police say the passenger side of the vehicle was heavily damaged.
Hey Bob, here’s your truck over the NB GW Parkway on (off) the inbound Memorial Bridge. @WTOPtraffic @DildineWTOP pic.twitter.com/Sx64QshT73
— SilverSpringJoe (@SilverSpringJoe) September 7, 2022
Police could not confirm the driver’s whereabouts or condition. It is unknown what caused the accident. Later in the evening, WTOP’s Dave Dildine surveyed damage and shared some recent history about the bridge on his Twitter “bridge run.”
Midnight bridge run starts where else … https://t.co/gz6Z3Lp5QC pic.twitter.com/8qlZ3vlzVf
— Dave Dildine (@DildineWTOP) September 8, 2022
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein also visited the bridge on Thursday morning to view some of the damage by daylight.
Checking out the damage to the stone railing on Arlington Memorial Bridge, after a truck crashed into it yesterday. We could learn more today about the timeline for repairs. A major renovation of the bridge was just completed in 2020. @WTOP @WTOPtraffic pic.twitter.com/YezwinvSGE
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) September 8, 2022
It is the second time in a decade that a crash has damaged this exact part of the Memorial Bridge. In 2013, an SUV crashed through the balustrade and landed in the Potomac River. The driver survived. The hole in the railing remained covered with fencing and temporary barriers until the rehabilitation project began several years later. Many of the granite balusters were taken to a stone yard in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to be cleaned and repaired. WTOP’s Joe Fox and Dave Dildine contributed to the report.