The Gilmerton Bridge, originally a twin bascule

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

, is now a

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

which spans the

Southern Branch Elizabeth River The Southern Branch Elizabeth River is a ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 primarily tidal river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It flows from south to north t ...

in the City of Chesapeake in

South Hampton Roads South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,191,937. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA (Metropolitan St ...

in southeastern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Completed in 1938, it carries

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. ...

and US 460 and is part of

Military Highway Military Highway is a four-to-eight-lane roadway built in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, USA during World War II. Carrying US 13 for most of its length, it also carries US 58, and US 460 while in Chesapeake. It is a major alt ...

(which was completed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in what was then Norfolk County). The Gilmerton Bridge is operated by the City of Chesapeake.

Replacement project

In 2009, a $150 million replacement project began. According to the

Virginia Department of Transportation The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Building in downtown ...

, funds designated for planned work on the nearby

Steel Bridge The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries ro ...

and on Dominion Boulevard ( US 17), each also in Chesapeake, are being diverted to the Gilmerton project, which is more urgent. VDOT also has advised that motor vehicle traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction during the estimated four years the project will take to complete. The project was completed late May 2015 and normal traffic flow resumed May 26, 2015. Prior to this the bridge was closing at 8:00PM Sunday through Thursday.

References

External links

City of Chesapeake Gilmerton BridgeVirginia Department of Transportation Gilmerton Bridge Project
Bridges completed in 1938 Vertical lift bridges in the United States Bridges in Chesapeake, Virginia Road bridges in Virginia U.S. Route 13 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System {{Virginia-bridge-struct-stub