Description

The Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River was completed in 1932, but considerable finishing work remained to be done at each end.  In late 1933, the Washington Post reported that $32,000 was appropriated for the Public Works Administration (PWA) to construct retaining walls for the approaches and sidewalks leading to the bridge on the east (DC) side of the river. The work would have almost certainly been completed in 1934.

The wonderful statues on the bridge approach have only a minor New Deal dimension: plans for the statues were drawn up in the 1920s, plaster casts were made in the 1930s, but the actual statues were not finished until 1951, as a gift from Italy.