The repaired span was renamed in honor of Arland D. Williams Jr., a passenger on the plane who survived the initial crash, but drowned after repeatedly passing a helicopter rescue line to other survivors.

[17][16] On July 2, the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway opened, providing the first direct all-rail connection between the north and Richmond, Virginia.

[26] The last time it was opened was March 1969 to allow barges used in the removal of the old Highway Bridge to pass through.

The tender's control house, or shanty, on top of the draw remained - often used as a billboard for Georgetown crew races until it was removed in late 1982 or early 1983.

[20][30] The yellow trolleys of the Mount Vernon Railway used the bridge until 1932 when the line was replaced by buses that eventually became part of the Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington (AB&W) Transit Company.

Nonetheless, the Highway Bridge was finally removed from the site in 1967–1968,[32][33] and was taken to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, for bombing practice.

A few years prior to 1967, the railroad bridge had been welded shut, and in order to open it for the crane, that had to be reversed.

The bridge was constructed of 30 plank covered pontoons with an asphalt coating for the 12 foot-wide floor.

Planning for a replacement of the Highway Bridge started in the 1940s to deal with expanded traffic in the automobile age.

[40] This prompted a letter to the editor of the Washington Post suggested it be named for revolutionary war hero Lafayette, since it was near where he led soldiers across the river on the way to Yorktown.

Workers gave the bridge a new deck, removed the bascule draw span and replaced the sidewalks with shoulders.

The Boeing 737-222, which had accumulated ice while idling on the runway at National Airport, stalled soon after takeoff, fell on the bridge, and slammed into the iced-over Potomac River.

The repaired span was renamed the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge on March 13, 1985 – following a December 4, 1984 vote – after one of the passengers, who passed a lifeline to five survivors before permitting himself to be rescued.

Citing the expense and the need to replace or repair several deficient bridges elsewhere in the District, DDOT pushed the date for fixing these problems to 2020.

[52] On April 13, 2023, DDOT announced the US Department of Transportation had provided $72 million to help fund the rehabilitation project.

During the late 1960s, new ramps were constructed between the westbound Shirley Highway and the southbound George Washington Parkway and these eliminated the path between the bridge and the Pentagon.

[55][56] On July 25, 1989, the George Mason Bridge gained national notoriety as the scene of the 1989 DC Prostitute Expulsion.

In late 2018, the National Park Service rebuilt and improved the trail ramp between the George Mason Bridge path and East Basin Drive.

[59] In late 1973, carpoolers were allowed to use the bus lanes during rush hour if the car had at least four passengers.

[62][63] In 1987, due to increased congestion, the Virginia Department of Transportation extended the HOV end time from 6pm to 6:30pm, but later that year it was rolled back after Rep. Stan Parris passed a federal law that would deny Virginia $2.4 million if the rush hour extension remained.

[64] In the same year, the VDOT opened the northbound HOV lanes on the bridge to all users to alleviate congestion caused by reconstruction of the SE-SW Freeway.

[69][70] Based on the recommendation of Washington Post reporter Jack Eisen, the bridge was named for Fenwick by the Metro Board on September 22, 1983.