Illume CSX East
Connector Bridge

The Illume CSX East development located in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood of Southeast, Washington DC, consists of two residential buildings and one hotel building. The development includes pedestrian bridges that connect all three buildings, with the most striking bridge connecting the AC Hotel Capitol Hill’s 11th floor to the existing ORE 82 apartment building. Standing over 100 ft. above the ground level, the bridge facilitates guests’ access to the amenities offered by the two buildings, without imposing any additional loads on the existing building.

The biggest challenge in the development of the design of the bridge was to ensure no additional loads were imposed on the existing ORE 82 apartment building. To achieve that, the bridge had to cantilever ~20 ft. off the new building, and safely transfer the loads to it. Eight attachment points were located on the structure where the bridge’s structural framing can attach to. The bridge and its roof, made of wide flange beams and tube column sections, connect to the 11th and 12th (roof) levels, respectively.  Under the bridge, a set of steel tube braces are provided to transfer loads to the 10th and 9th floors to reduce the true cantilever.