Long Bridge (Potomac River)

There have been three bridges named the Long Bridge connecting Washington, D.C., to Arlington, Virginia, over the Potomac River.

The first bridge at the site opened in 1809 for foot, horse, and stagecoach traffic. It was briefly converted for railroad traffic in 1862 due to the Civil War, but the tracks were moved to a new companion bridge in 1865. Both bridges were damaged in an 1870 flood, and replaced with a single new bridge with both a carriageway and a railway that opened in 1872.

The current bridge was built in 1904 and substantially modified in 1942. It carries CSX Transportation's RF&P Subdivision, and is used by CSX freight trains, Amtrak intercity trains and Virginia Railway Express commuter trains. Norfolk Southern Railway also has trackage rights on the bridge but does not currently exercise those rights.

In 2019, Virginia announced that it would help fund and build a new rail bridge parallel to the existing one to double its capacity, following the plans that have been studied by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) since 2011. Construction of the companion bridge began in October 2024.

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