The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (known locally as simply the Coleman Bridge ) is a double swing bridge that spans the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester Point , in the United States state of Virginia . It connects the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula 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 and Pamunkey Rivers ) just upriver of their confluence at West Point .
7-437: 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 3,750-foot (1,140 m)-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
14-483: A specific type of moveable bridge often found in castles. An advantage of making bridges moveable is the lower cost, due to the absence of high piers and long approaches. The principal disadvantage is that the traffic on the bridge must be halted when it is opened for passage of traffic on the waterway. For seldom-used railroad bridges over busy channels, the bridge may be left open and then closed for train passages. For small bridges, bridge movement may be enabled without
21-544: Is restricted by engineering and cost considerations to a few hundred feet. There are often traffic lights for the road and water traffic, and moving barriers for the road traffic. In the United States , regulations governing the operation of moveable bridges (referred to as drawbridges ) – for example, hours of operation and how much advance notice must be given by water traffic – are listed in Title 33 of
28-508: The Virginia Department of Transportation (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. 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 taking advantage of
35-655: The bridge, most notably, the United States Navy 's Naval Weapons Station Yorktown . The roadways are almost 90 feet (27 m) 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 was named for George P. Coleman , who from 1913 to 1922 was the head of the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation, predecessor to
42-487: The free crossing must use the established bicycle lane located to the right of the far right travel lane. Moveable bridge A moveable bridge , or movable bridge , is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with drawbridge , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical definition used in some other forms of English, in which drawbridge refers to only
49-415: The need for an engine. Some bridges are operated by the users, especially those with a boat, others by a bridgeman (or bridge tender ); a few are remotely controlled using video-cameras and loudspeakers. Generally, the bridges are powered by electric motors, whether operating winches, gearing, or hydraulic pistons. While moveable bridges in their entirety may be quite long, the length of the moveable portion
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