Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries the

Pocahontas Parkway State Route 895 (SR 895), also known as the Pocahontas Parkway and Pocahontas 895, is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It connects the junction of Interstate 95 and State Route 150 in Chesterfield County with Interstat ...

, signed as State Route 895, across the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

between the independent city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

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 ...

. Crossing the southernmost extremity of Richmond, it provides a connection between Henrico and the southern end of

Chippenham Parkway State Route 150 (SR 150) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Chippenham Parkway, the state highway runs from Interstate 95 (I-95) and SR 895 in Bensley north to Parham Road and River Road near Tuckahoe in Henrico Count ...

near

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the sout ...

. It is the tallest bridge in the Richmond Metropolitan Area. It is also the most expensive toll bridge in the Area.

Bridge features

The , high-level fixed

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

features a main span with of vertical clearance for marine traffic using Richmond's deepwater port. The bridge also includes nearly of high-level approach spans and three new, high-level ramp structures that connect to

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

. The high-level bridge cost $111 million.

Public-private partnership

The bridge and the accompanying Pocahontas Parkway are toll facilities. They were built through a public-private partnership. Though the road had been planned for many years, sufficient state and federal construction funds were not available when the road was finally desired. In 1995, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

passed the Public-Private Transportation Act allowing private entities to propose solutions for designing, constructing, financing and operating transportation improvements. A proposal for the Pocahontas Parkway and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge was submitted jointly by

Fluor Daniel Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastr ...

and Morrison-Knudsen, and an agreement was reached. At the end of the designated period, under the agreement, the ownership of both the bridge and the parkway will be turned over to the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 895
Bridges over the James River (Virginia) Transportation in Henrico County, Virginia Bridges completed in 2002 Bridges in Richmond, Virginia Buildings and structures in Henrico County, Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia Vietnam War monuments and memorials in the United States Road bridges in Virginia 2002 establishments in Virginia Toll bridges in Virginia {{Virginia-bridge-struct-stub

Bridge features

Public-private partnership

See also

References

External links