James River Bridge, near Hampton Roads in Virginia. When completed in 1928, it was the longest bridge in the world over water. The James River Bridge is a highway bridge which crosses the James River between Newport News and Isle of Wight County, Virginia near the mouth of the river at Hampton Roads. When completed in 1928, it was the longest bridge in the world over water.
The drawbridge carries U.S. Highway 17 and U.S. Highway 258 and connects the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads regions of Tidewater Virginia. It was rebuilt beginning in 1975.
History: longest bridge in the world over water
The original James River Bridge, completed in 1928, was the first fixed crossing across Hampton Roads, a crossing long-served by ferry systems. The new bridge was narrow, with a 20-foot roadway from curb to curb, and railings much less substantial than found on modern structures. Originally constructed with private funds as a toll bridge, the $5.2 million span was opened on November 17, 1928, by the press of a button in Washington DC, where U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, sitting in the Oval Office of the White House, sent an electric signal to lower into place the upraised lift span over the James River channel.
When it was completed, it was the longest bridge in the world over water, linking Warwick County with Isle of Wight County. For the first time a person could drive from Smithfield to Newport News without loading his car onto a ferry. However, traffic projections for the bridge grossly overestimated its early use. The company owning it went bankrupt, and bondholders headed by a Smithfield man took over. Local residents griped for decades about tolls on the bridge and, finally, in 1949, the state bought it for $5.6 million. Management was assumed by the Virginia Department of Highways. However, in 1955, the state doubled the round-trip fee for a car, to $1.80. The toll for a truck was $4 round trip, more for trucks with four or more axles.
The increased toll rates incensed the public and business users alike. In a well-publicized example of shunpiking (which is taking a longer route to avoid payment of tolls), Joseph W. Luter Jr., head of Smithfield Packing Company, the producer of world-famous Smithfield Hams, ordered his truck drivers to take a different route and cross a smaller and cheaper bridge. Tolls continued for 20 more years, and were finally removed from the old bridge in 1975 as construction of a replacement structure was begun.
Replacement bridge without tolls: 1975-1982
A new four-lane drawbridge was completed in stages from 1975 to 1982 at a cost of $75 million. The replacement was funded with road user taxes and without toll revenue bonds. It is now a toll-free facility. The former toll plaza on the Isle of Wight County side of the James River Bridge was torn down in 2004, despite the efforts of preservationists who argued it may have had architectural significance. When the new bridge was completed, a short section of the old bridge on the Newport News side was retained for use as a fishing pier.
The 415-foot long vertical lift span on the replacement bridge has 60 feet of vertical clearance when closed. This allows ocean-going ships to pass en route to civilian port facilities in Hopewell and Port of Richmond. It is currently operated and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
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