James River Bridge Tour

Рет қаралды 6,013

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 17

@davidlyons9992 2 жыл бұрын

The depth of the James River varies wildly; in some places it is about 10-20ft deep, but in the channel at the span it's about 70 feet deep. The deepest parts of the river are in front of the Shipyard, of course. Speed restrictions are very common because the river is 4.5 miles wide, winds are extremely strong that can actually push your car during storms!

@pennguy20 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. You take it for granted all the equipment it takes to operate a drawbridge.

@davidlyons9992 2 жыл бұрын

The southbound lanes were built and completed first, which is why those lanes have the "handrail" at the top of the sides, and the northbound lanes have the "Jersey Wall" sides. The steel lift span was the very last part of the bridge to be constructed. The lift span itself is 350ft long. The old/original bridge actually lifted 10 feet higher when fully open than the current span. During construction, once the southbound lanes were sufficiently completed, temporary trestle was built to connect the two bridges, and traffic would get on the new bridge, then transfer over to the old bridge at the lift span before being transferred back to the new bridge for the rest of the 4.5 mile trip--with one lane in each direction. Once traffic was using the new bridge, all trestle for the old bridge was demolished south of the lift span first. The old bridge remained standing for some time from the Newport News side to the old lift span (which remained permanently fully open). After a few years, the old bridge lift span was demolished, leaving just the 1/2 mile stretch from the Newport News shore which became the James River Fishing Pier. Each lane of the current bridge is 12 feet wide (from white line to the dashed lines), while the original bridge was only 10 feet wide, and had no extra space between the edge of the lane and the handrail! Yes, the original bridge just had a steel handrail to mark the edge, as opposed to the concrete jersey wall sides of the new crossing. Very, very narrow!

@EvanStoneProductions 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your comment! That is so fascinating.

@Outlawjunkie 3 жыл бұрын

My grandad worked on that bridge for over 25 years. You didn’t show the control room. I remember that there wasn’t much space in there it was u shaped. I still remember how to operate the draw bridge watching him do it. A lot of good people worked there that I met.

@davidlyons9992 2 жыл бұрын

Video and photos of the Control Room are prohibited because of terrorism concerns after 9/11. Fencing and locked gates surround the stairs and access at the span to prevent someone from trying to enter the span.

@davidlyons9992 2 жыл бұрын

During construction, the lift span was the very last part to be built so there was a time when cars would get on the new bridge's southbound lanes (1 direction each lane) and be transferred to the old bridge to cross at the lift span, then transfer back to the new bridge. When the new bridge was completed, the old bridge span was left fully open for ship traffic and then eventually demolished, except for the 1/2 mile section on the Newport News side that became the fishing pier. Toll booths once stood at both ends, on the Isle of Wight County side the booth stood at the site where the current 9/11 Memorial stands.