The P Street Bridge or Lauzun's Legion Bridge is a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

that conveys

P Street P Street refers to four different streets within the city of Washington, D.C. The streets were named by President George Washington in 1791 as part of a general street naming program, in which east–west running streets were named alphabetically ...

across Rock Creek and

Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...

between the Georgetown and

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...

neighborhoods of Northwest

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The first bridge at this site was constructed in 1855 and was replaced in 1935 by the current structure. The bridge reopened on July 15, 2004, after a year-long, $3.5-million reconstruction project, the first since its completion in 1935.

Renaming

In June 2006, the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission (2B) discussed a proposal to give the bridge a ceremonial designation to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the end of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. On October 14, 2006, the P Street Bridge was ceremonially renamed Lauzun's Legion Bridge for Lauzun's Legion (french: Volontaires-etrangers de Lauzun), a specially constructed unit that was formed on March 5, 1780, from various detachments of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

commanded by Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun at the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

. Present at the renaming ceremony were French Ambassador

Jean-David Levitte Jean-David Levitte (born 14 June 1946) is a French diplomat who was France's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2000 to 2002 and Ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2007. He was also a diplomatic advisor and sherpa to p ...

, Jacques Bossiere, and representatives of the D.C. Daughters of the American Revolution and D.C. Children of the American Revolution.

References

External links

* * Bridges completed in 1855 Bridges completed in 1935 Bridges over Rock Creek (Potomac River tributary) Dupont Circle Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Historic American Engineering Record in Washington, D.C. Road bridges in Washington, D.C. Concrete bridges in the United States Arch bridges in the United States 1855 establishments in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-bridge-struct-stub

Renaming

See also

References

External links