HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (known locally as simply the Coleman Bridge) is a double
swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
that spans the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester Point, in the United States state of
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 ...
. It connects the Peninsula and
Middle Peninsula The Middle Peninsula is the second of three large peninsulas on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the Middle Peninsula was home to 92,886 people. It lies between the Northern Neck and ...
regions of Tidewater, Virginia. The bridge is the only public crossing of the York River, though State Route 33 crosses both of its tributaries (the
Mattaponi The Mattaponi () tribe is one of only two Virginia Indian tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns reservation land, which it has held since the colonial era. The larger Mattaponi Indian Tribe lives in King William County on the reser ...
and Pamunkey Rivers) just upriver of their confluence at
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
.


History

Originally built in 1952, it was reconstructed and widened in 1995 through an unusual process which greatly reduced the time the important commuter artery was out-of-service from conventional methods. The current -long double-swing-span bridge carries United States Route 17, a four-lane arterial highway. The movable span is needed to allow ship access to several military installations that are upstream of the bridge, most notably, the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It provided a weapons and ammunition storage and loading facility for ships of the United ...
. The roadways are almost above the river at the highest point of the bridge. The bridge is the largest double-swing-span bridge in the United States, and second largest in the world. The
toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...
was named for George P. Coleman, who from 1913 to 1922 was the head of the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation, predecessor 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 ...
(VDOT). The bridge has been one of the sites of a special program to establish and encourage nesting locations for the peregrine falcon population of Virginia.


Toll rates

The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge is a toll facility. Tolls are only collected northbound, and are used to pay for the expansion of the bridge to four lanes. Toll Collection Rates are as follows: *Bicycles 0¢ *EZ-Pass (transponder required) 85¢ *Motorcycles 85¢ *Two-axle vehicles $2 *Three-axle vehicles $3 *Four- or more-axle vehicles $4 Bicycles taking advantage of the free crossing must use the established bicycle lane located to the right of the far right travel lane.


Photos

File:GeorgePColemanBridge.jpg, Bridge swung open as seen from Yorktown side, Summer 2011 File:Coleman Bridge 080801.jpg, One of the two swing spans while fully turned (open for river traffic) File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - USS Winston S. Churchill gets underway..jpg, Opened bridge as seen from aboard a Navy ship File:Coleman Bridge closing.jpg, Bridge swinging closed as seen from down York River File:Entering Coleman Bridge from Yorktown Side.jpg, Entering Bridge from Yorktown side File:USSElrod VA.jpg, about to pass through the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge on the York River, Summer 2011 File:USS Arleigh Burke traveling under The James P. Coleman Memorial Bridge.jpg,
USS Arleigh Burke USS ''Arleigh Burke'' (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the guided-missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on ...
traveling under the bridge.


See also

* * * *
List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Virginia __NOTOC__ This is a list of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in the US state of Virginia. Bridges See also *List of tunnels documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Virginia References External ...


References


External links


PBS.org description of the bridge
* *
VDOT website for Peregrine Falcon news
* {{Authority control Swing bridges in the United States Toll bridges in Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia Bridges completed in 1952 Road bridges in Virginia U.S. Route 17 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Historic American Engineering Record in Virginia Steel bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in York County, Virginia Buildings and structures in Gloucester County, Virginia