James River Bridge

James River Bridge
The 1928 bridge, replaced from 1975 to 1982
Coordinates36°59′28″N 76°29′01″W / 36.9910°N 76.4836°W / 36.9910; -76.4836
Carries4 lanes of US 17 / US 258 / SR 32
CrossesJames River
LocaleIsle of Wight County, VA to Newport News, VA
Maintained byVirginia DOT
ID number10364[1]
Characteristics
Designsteel lift bridge[1]
Total length7,071.4 m (23,200 ft)[1]
Width20.8 m (68 ft)[1]
Longest span126.5 m (415 ft)[1]
Clearance above4.87 m (16.0 ft)[1]
Clearance below44.1 m (145 ft) open[1]
18.2 m (60 ft) closed[1]
History
Opened1928; 96 years ago (1928)(original bridge)
1982; 42 years ago (1982)(current bridge)[2]
Location
Map

The James River Bridge (JRB) is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17 (US 17), US 258, and State Route 32 across the river near its mouth at Hampton Roads. The bridge connects Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula with Isle of Wight County in the South Hampton Roads region, and is the easternmost such crossing without a tunnel component.

When completed in 1928, the 4.39-mile (7.07 km) bridge was the longest bridge in the world over water.[3] The original two-lane bridge was replaced from 1975 to 1982 with a wider four-lane bridge that could handle increased traffic volumes. In 2005, the bridge carried an annual average daily traffic of about 30,000 vehicles per day.[4]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h National Bridge Inventory Data, December 2003
  2. ^ VDOT Bulletin, May-June 2006, Bridges, Tunnels and Ferries
  3. ^ James River Bridge (US-17), Roads to the Future (accessed July 31, 2013)
  4. ^ "2005 Virginia Department of Transportation Jurisdiction Report - Daily Traffic Volume Estimates - Isle of Wight County" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-08-19.