The Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge is a four-lane automobile

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 ...

spanning the

Croatan Sound Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians wh ...

, between Manns Harbor and Roanoke Island, in Dare County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. The bridge carries US 64 Bypass and is utilized by local and seasonal tourist traffic. The bridge is dedicated to the memory of

Virginia Dare Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587, in Roanoke Colony, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a New World English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known bec ...

, the first English child born in the Americas, in 1587. At a length of , the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge is the longest in the state. It travels over of wetlands, with the remaining over the Croatan Sound. The bridge rises to at its apex and is supported by 88 concrete columns and more than 2,000 pilings, which extend below the water. The bridge deck has 7,250 tons of epoxy-coated reinforcement steel and was designed with a 100-year life span. The bridge complements the William B. Umstead Bridge, which carries US 64, between Manns Harbor and Manteo and is located further north. The bridge, along with the Washington Baum Bridge and Melvin R. Daniels Bridge connects the North Carolina mainland with the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

communities.

History

In 1996, two hurricanes forced evacuation of the Outer Banks area during peak tourist season. The existing William B. Umstead Bridge, built in 1955, was unable to handle the high volume of traffic during the evacuation. To help alleviate traffic congestion and provide an additional emergency evacuation route from the Outer Banks, planning for the new bridge began in earnest. In January 1997, Wilbur Smith Associates was selected for the design of the bridge. In April 1998, Balfour Beatty Construction was awarded the prime construction contract. On August 16, 2002, the bridge was dedicated by NCDOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett and was opened that day. The bridge initially carried US 64 Bypass and US 264 Bypass; but in September 2003, US 264 Bypass was removed.

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* {{Outer Banks Buildings and structures in Dare County, North Carolina Bridges completed in 2002 Road bridges in North Carolina Transportation in Dare County, North Carolina 2002 establishments in North Carolina U.S. Route 64 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Roanoke Island Concrete bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States

History

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