The James River Bridge carries Interstate 95 across the James River in Richmond, Virginia.

History

The original 6 lane structure was built in 1957 and 1958 as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike and was financed with

toll revenue bond A toll revenue bond is a financial promissory note usually issued to generate funds for the construction and/or operation of a public accommodation such as an Controlled-access highway, expressway, bridge, or tunnel. Funds for the repayment are obt ...

s issued by the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority, a political subdivision of the

Commonwealth 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 are ...

. In 1975, 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) assumed the operations of former Turnpike Authority. Although the initial bonds were retired in 1975, additional tolls were collected to finance improvements along other sections of the former Turnpike. Tolls for the bridge and I-95 were finally completely removed in 1992. Beginning in 1976, a complicated connection with the

Downtown Expressway State Route 195 (SR 195) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as the Downtown Expressway, the state highway runs from Interstate 195 (I-195) east to I-95 within the independent city of Richmond. SR 195 is a toll fr ...

—a newer

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

built by the

Richmond Metropolitan Authority The Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority is an independent authority and political subdivision which serves the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. Created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1966, then called the Richmond Met ...

(RMA)—was constructed on the bridge itself. The bridge was re-decked by VDOT from 1999 to August 2002.

Flooding

The bridge is high above the river, and is not considered in danger of flooding during periods when the river periodically floods. However, in the past the southern approach has been subject to closure due to flooding of the James River, notably after

Hurricane Camille Hurricane Camille was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille originated as a tropical depression ...

in 1969,

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

in 1972, and Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Richmond's

Flood Wall A flood wall (or floodwall) is a primarily vertical artificial barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to unusual levels during seasonal or extreme weather events. Flood walls are mainly u ...

, designed to prevent a 280-year flood, completed in 1995 at a cost of about $142 million, is hoped to prevent such future closures.

References

External links

DHRM WebCAM
view from the 13th Floor of the State of Virginia's Monroe Building pointed Southward showing I-95 & James River Bridge in Richmond, Va. Bridges completed in 1958 Bridges over the James River (Virginia) Bridges in Richmond, Virginia Road bridges in Virginia Interstate 95 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Former toll bridges in Virginia {{Virginia-bridge-struct-stub