RESTORATION OF THE NAME OF JEFFERSON
DAVIS TO THE CABIN JOHN BRIDGE,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Being an Official Correspondence Leading to This
Restoration.
Reprinted from the Publication by the CONFEDERATED SOUTHERN
MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, of New Orleans, La.
INTRODUCTION.
The purpose of this article is to relate officially, in chronological order, the history of the restoration of the name of Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War of the United States of America, to the Cabin John Bridge, at Washington, District of Columbia—a page of American history restored to its rightful place.
For the information of those who are not familiar with the history of the Union Arch, better known as the Cabin John Bridge, the Aqueduct at Washington, D. C, the following facts are given:
On April 21, 1852, the Congress of the United States took the initiatory steps to supply Washington and Georgetown with good water; by appropriating $5,000 for surveys, &c. Later successive appropriations were made as follows: 1853, $100,000; 1855, $250,000; 1856, $250,000; 1857, $1,000,000; 1858, $800,000; 1859, no appropriations, but a law passed for the care of the aqueduct; 1860, $500,000; 1863 the masonry engineering was practically completed. The chief engineer was Montgomery C. Meigs, with Charles T. Curtis as general superintendent and inspector. Much of the detail of the plans and drawing was by Alfred L. Rives, of Virginia.
The measurements, including the abutments, are: Over all length, 450 feet; single span, 220 feet; rise, 57.26 feet; at the crown, thick 4.2 feet; brick conduit, 9 feet diameter; and roadway about 100 feet above the ravine. Materials: Abutments, of gneiss from Maryland; rubble arch and spandrels, of Seneca sandstone; and the stone arch, or ring of granite, from Quincy, Mass.
