Chain Bridge project completion delayed a month

WASHINGTON - It's a major road project that has given drivers fits at times, and now WTOP has learned that repairs on the Chain Bridge will take longer than expected.

Originally scheduled to finish in January, DDOT now says the work on the aged structure will last until mid-February at the earliest.

One of the three lanes on the bridge has been shut down permanently since June, when the lengthy project began. Normally there are two lanes on the bridge heading inbound from Virginia to D.C. in the morning, and two headed outbound in the evening.

Now, there is only one lane flowing in each direction at all times.

So what's the reason for the delay in completion? Terrible traffic delays when the project started.

Some drivers complained of an hour long drive to get from the Key Bridge to go past the Chain Bridge on Canal Road in the evening when the project first began. Because of that, DDOT had to rethink the traffic management plan around the bridge, meaning the actual work on the bridge had to stop.

"We did hold up the contractor a little at the beginning while we worked to improve the traffic management plan," says DDOT spokesman John Lisle.

"Major structural repairs will continue into January and February and we will probably have to close the bridge completely on select weekends for these repairs. That was part of our original announcement last year, but we haven't had to do it yet."

The current Chain Bridge was completed in 1939 and sits on stone piers from the 1870s. It carries close to 22,000 cars a day. The last major rehabilitation of the bridge was done in the early 1980s.

DDOT says the project is on budget.

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