If you’ve gone by the C & O Canal this past week, you’ve probably noticed an abnormal amount of construction work going on.  That’s because the D.C. Department of Transportation just began a three year project to replace three of the canal’s 109-year-old bridges.

Each bridge is slated to take a year’s worth of construction.  DDOT is starting with the bridge at 30th Street, and will later be fixing those on Thomas Jefferson Street and 29th Street, according to DDOT’s Denis D’Arbela.  The project will cost about $6 million in local and federal funds overall, according to the Washington Post.

Because the bridges are so old, they are going to be completely torn down and replaced, D’Arbela explained.

“I wouldn’t say the current bridge is dangerous,” Aaron Golds (COL ’11), who represents the University in Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission, said. “Crossing the bridge now is fine. They could do the construction now, or wait. In five or ten years, it could eventually become a problem. I don’t know that for a fact, but I think the bridge is not in very strong condition.”

According to Golds’ fellow ANC Commssioner Bill Starrels, the project has been going smoothly so far.

Reporting by Lillian Kaiser.

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