Dominion Boulevard Steel Bridge

Steel Bridge
Coordinates 36°44′11″N 76°17′41″W / +36.73643°N 76.29477°W / +36.73643; -76.29477
Carries US 17
Crosses Elizabeth River (Virginia)
Locale Chesapeake, Virginia
Official name Dominion Blvd. Steel Bridge
Owner City of Chesapeake
ID number 21875
Characteristics
Design Bascule bridge
Total length 551.9 feet (168.2 m)
Width 27.9 feet (8.5 m)
Longest span 2 x 228.0 feet (69.5 m)
Load limit 84,000 pounds (38 t)
Clearance below 11.8 feet (3.6 m)
History
Opened 1962
Closed December 2014
Replaced by Veterans Bridge

Dominion Boulevard Steel Bridge (known locally as simply the Steel Bridge) was a double-leaf bascule, two-lane drawbridge which spanned the Southern Branch Elizabeth River in the City of Chesapeake in South Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia. Built in 1962 and operated by the City of Chesapeake, it carried U.S. Route 17 (US 17) which is Dominion Boulevard (formerly numbered as State Route 104). The corridor frequently acts as a bypass route for congested I-64 High Rise Bridge traffic.

Because of the low water clearance, bridge openings were commonplace for the bridge, with an average of 16 lifts per day.[1] Combined with a average daily traffic count of 33,000, it frequently became a choke point for commuters who lived in the Deep Creek part of the city, with a failing level of service on the entire stretch according to a during a 2006 traffic plan by the HRPTO.[2]

In January 2013, Chesapeake Public Works began construction on a $345 million fixed-bridge replacement project. The project, scheduled to be completed in 2017, will also expand Dominion Blvd. from two to four lanes from the intersection of Cedar Road & Moses Grady Trail to the interchange of Great Bridge Blvd..The new bridge will also be tolled, at the rate of $1 beginning in 2017.

After the first span of the Veterans Bridge opened in December 2014, the Steel Bridge was shut down and demolished.[1]

Sources

  1. 1 2 "Dominion Blvd US Route 17 Project Facts". www.cityofchesapeake.net. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  2. ↑ http://www.hrtpo.org/uploads/docs/2026RTPtechdoc.pdf

External links

Coordinates: 36°44′10.9″N 76°17′41.3″W / 36.736361°N 76.294806°W / 36.736361; -76.294806


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.