George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge

Coleman Bridge
Coleman Bridge
	The Coleman Bridge as seen from Yorktown as it connects with Gloucester Point.
Coordinates	37°14′33″N 76°30′25″W / 37.2426°N 76.5070°W
Carries	4 lanes of US 17
Crosses	York River
Locale	Gloucester Point and Yorktown, Virginia
Official name	George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge
Maintained by	Virginia Department of Transportation
ID number	000000000019824 [1]
Characteristics
Design	Swing bridge, with two swinging spans
Material	High-strength steel
Total length	3,750 feet (1,140 m)
Longest span	450 feet (140 m)
Clearance below	60 feet (18 m)
History
Designer	Parsons Brinckerhoff
Opened	May 7, 1952; rebuilt in spring 1995
Statistics
Daily traffic	33,595 (2005)
Toll	$2.00 (northbound only) Smart Tag/E-ZPass
Location

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.

History[edit]

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 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.^[1]^[2]

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 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.

Toll rates[edit]

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:^[3]

Bicycles 0¢
EZ-Pass (transponder required) 85¢
Motorcycles 85¢
Two-axle vehicles $2
Three-axle vehicles $3
Four- or more-axle vehicles $4

Bicycles taking advantage of the free crossing must use the established bicycle lane located to the right of the far right travel lane.^[4]

Photos[edit]

Bridge swung open as seen from Yorktown side, Summer 2011
One of the two swing spans while fully turned (open for river traffic)
Opened bridge as seen from aboard a Navy ship
Bridge swinging closed as seen from down York River
Entering Bridge from Yorktown side
USS Elrod (FFG-55) about to pass through the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge on the York River, Summer 2011
USS Arleigh Burke traveling under the bridge.