[Excerpt] The Arlington Memorial Bridge is one of seven existing bridges that carry automobile traffic across the Potomac River to and from Washington, DC. Though there have been bridges crossing the Potomac in the area since the first bridge constructed at the site of the Chain Bridge in 1797, these early bridges were often damaged by environmental factors, and others were replaced over time. Thus, the Arlington Memorial Bridge, opened for use on January 18, 1932, is the second-oldest of the bridges currently in use, after the Francis Scott Key Bridge (completed in 1923.) This article examines the history of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and compares the original construction with a contemporary proposed rebuilding of it, which provides an interesting illustration of long-term price change in the United States, with the help of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data
