The existing Harry Nice/Thomas “Mac” Middleton Memorial bridge crossing over the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland has reached the end of its design life at 82-years old. The owner, Maryland Transportation Authority, chose the design-build project delivery method to build a replacement bridge, and it was awarded to a joint venture of Skanska Civil USA, Corman Construction, and McLean Construction , with AECOM as their lead design engineer in 2020 for $463,000,000. Construction began in July, 2020, and the bridge was open to traffic in October, 2022. R. J. Watson disc bearings were selected by the design build team for their high load capacity, and excellent long term durability. There were a total of 24 disc bearings installed. The vertical service load ranged from 540 to 1,540 kips with horizontal loads between 6% to 12% of the vertical load. The bearings were designed for a service rotation of +/- 0.02 radians, and up to 25.5” of total movement.
