"Suspension Bridge Three Sisters"
By Alfred L. Rives, 1857
Ink and watercolor on paper
14" x 24 1/4"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office
of the Chief of Engineers
Potomac River Bridges: Suspension
Bridge
Pierre L'Enfant was the first person to suggest
a bridge over the Potomac River at the Three Sisters Island rocky outcropping
near Georgetown in 1791. Many similar proposals followed. This design
by Army Engineer in Charge Alfred L. Rives for a Potomac River suspension
bridge to accommodate railroad and carriage traffic was not built.