Arlington Memorial bridge between the district of Columbia and Virginia is considered the most beautiful in Washington. But it is also the bridge is a symbol: it connects the Lincoln memorial, the leader of the northerners during the Civil war, and Arlington, where was the estate of General Lee, who commanded the troops of southerners. This is a visible sign of reconciliation and reunification of the country.

For the first time the Congress spoke about the construction of the crossing of the Potomac river in this location in 1886. Designers offers discussed for decades. In 1913 Congress passed a law that, in particular, obliged to Finance the construction of the bridge pursuant to the so-called McMillan plan (project development center of Washington). However, the First world war, the money was never allocated.

The case has helped. In 1921, U.S. President Warren G. Harding went to the Grand opening of the tomb of the unknowns at Arlington national cemetery. On the bridge, 14th street, which drove Harding, there was a stopper, and the President was trapped there for three hours. This incident inspired his address to Congress asking for $ 25 thousand dollars for the construction of a new bridge, and the money is finally given. The project was developed by the architectural firm Mckim, Mead and white".

Arched bridge of stone and steel in the neoclassical style, was opened in 1932 – at the time it was a very quick example of the construction of such a long (652 meters) and heavy (2700 tons) a movable bridge. However, the last time its Central part raised in 1961 – since, as upstream the bridge was built by Theodore Roosevelt, which is not a drawbridge, the high court cannot go into this part of the Potomac.

Arlington memorial bridge is decorated with flashy, but elegant sculptures of eagles on the pylons from the Western entrance, the reliefs of the same eagles, oak wreaths, bison, granite balustrade... Catch the eye but two monumental sculptural group work Leo Friedlander, established in 1951. Sculpture of gilded bronze under the title "the Art of war" are located at the Eastern entrance. The panel on the left is called "Valor": a woman, carrying a shield, accompanies the rider. The panel on the right, "the Sacrifice", is more complicated – it can be assumed that a woman says goodbye to a child, which gave the rider. It is believed that the woman represents the Earth and the rider Mars.

Nearby, North of the bridge, are two of the sculptural group "the Art of peace" by James Earl Fraser – "Music and Harvest" and "Aspiration and Literature". They were established back in the 1930s, but cast in bronze only in the early 1950s. It is in a couple of them Friedlander and carved his "Art of war".

However, the main decoration of the Arlington memorial bridge – all the same design, and the surrounding landscape. It is for them to tourists who have been to Washington, it is always advised to take a walk on the bridge. It offers a magnificent view: on one side of the river – the Lincoln memorial and the Western edge of the National Mall, Arlington house (the mansion of General Lee) on a high hill.