no longer functional. It remained in this condition throughout the 1860s. In 1871, Congress abolished the elected mayor and bicameral legislature of the District of Columbia, and established a territorial government. Territorial government only lasted until 1874 when Congress imposed an appointed three-member commission on the city. During this period. the D.C. Board of Public Works enclosed the canal and turned it into a sewer. B Street NW from 15th Street to Virginia Avenue NW was constructed on top of it. Work began in October 1871 and was completed in December 1873. After terrible flooding inundated much of downtown Washington, D.C., in 1881, Congress ordered the United States Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a deep channel in the Potomac to lessen the chance of flooding. Congress also ordered that the dredged material be used to fill in what remained of the Tiber Creek estuary and build up much of the land near the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW by nearly to form a kind of levee. This "reclaimed land" — which today includes West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin — was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. Congress first appropriated money for the beautification of the reclaimed land in 1902, which led to the planting of sod, bushes, and trees; grading and paving of sidewalks, bridle paths, and driveways; and the installation of water, drainage, and sewage pipes. B Street NW extended through the newly created West Potomac Park between Virginia Avenue NW and 23rd Street NW. However, since this area was considered parkland, the street narrowed to just in width. B Street reconfiguration and renaming B Street NW as part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge On March 4, 1913, Congress created the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission (AMBC) whose purpose was to design and build a bridge somewhere in West Potomac Park which would link the city to Arlington National Cemetery. But Congress appropriated no money for the design or construction due to the onset of World War I. But after President Warren G. Harding was trapped in a three-hour traffic jam on the Highway Bridge while on his way to dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on November 11, 1921, Harding began pushing Congress to move on constructing a new bridge. Congress approved funding for design work on June 12, 1922, and authorized construction of the