Huguenot Memorial Bridge is located in

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...

and the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Richmond, Virginia. It carries State Route 147 across the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (now the James River Line of CSX Transportation), the

James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a ...

, and the James River in the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

region above the head of navigation at Richmond. The Huguenot Memorial Bridge, which connects

Southside (Richmond, Virginia) The Southside of Richmond is an area of the Metropolitan Statistical Area surrounding Richmond, Virginia. It generally includes all portions of the City of Richmond that lie south of the James River, and includes all of the former city of Ma ...

to urban Richmond, was completed in 1950. The 2900 ft (884 m) span replaced the low-level Westham Bridge which had been built as a

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 ...

in 1911. The old bridge was subject to flooding and was inadequate for traffic in the growing suburban area. The Huguenot Memorial Bridge was named in honor of the French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

settlers who came to the area in the 18th century to escape religious persecution in France. It is owned by 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) and is the westernmost bridge over the James River in the metropolitan Richmond area that is open to pedestrians. The 1950 original bridge was facing significant structural issues. After years of problems maintaining the deck and pavement, as of 2008, a replacement was included in the limited number of high priority projects underway with the

(VDOT). Construction began in 2010 and completed in 2013.Huguenot Bridge Reconstruction
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References

External links

Richmond.com article on Richmond's River CrossingsVDOT website for Huguenot Bridge Reconstruction
Transportation in Henrico County, Virginia Bridges over the James River (Virginia) Bridges completed in 1950 Bridges in Richmond, Virginia Buildings and structures in Henrico County, Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia Road bridges in Virginia {{Virginia-bridge-struct-stub