THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512150494
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
For the last year and a half, bridge
superintendent William T. ``Billy'' Hall's
second home - the Jordan Bridge - has stood idle.
This afternoon, the bridge reopens,
ending the longest period the bridge
has been out of commission.
William T. ``Billy'' Hall walked away from the Jordan Bridge on Thursday as several workers tinkered with the hazard gates that hold back traffic when the span rises.
Three quick rings from the bell on the bridge house signaled the span was about to go up. And as Hall turned to see the gates drop, none obliged.
``Won't none of them go down?'' Hall called out to the workers. They shrugged and Hall turned away with his hands in his pockets and little more than 24 hours until the span's official reopening.
He had walked only a few steps, however, when the gates dropped and the bridge, an antiquated but vital link over the Southern Branch Elizabeth River, slowly rose after 1 1/2 years of standing still.
``Ahh,'' said Hall. ``He got them down. Whew!''
The 60-year-old Hall, the bridge's superintendent, has been an employee here since 1955. He has the dubious distinction of having performed each and every job at the Jordan Bridge, a place he calls his second home.
He has worked maintenance, collected tolls and spent his days ringing warning bells while rising with the bridge 175 feet into the sky. He has even picked up horse droppings from a local ice cart that once used the bridge to deliver its frozen cargo.
He has been here so long that he even worked under the bridge's namesake, Carl M. Jordan, a man who planted beds of roses along the bridge's entrance, some of which still bloom.
``I've done everything,'' said Hall. ``I've been over every piece of this bridge.''
But for the last year and a half, Hall's second home has been closed. When the bridge's pulley system failed in May 1994, his job became filled with lagging paperwork. All but one of his employees were moved to other city departments. The road outside his office was void of traffic. Only Big Foot, a long-haired tabby cat who hunts mice around the grounds, seemed unaffected by the lack of activity.
But on Thursday, as Big Foot sleepily guarded a phone in the bridge's empty maintenance office, workers prepared for the bridge's opening today. And despite the pending onslaught of motorists, lines of traffic and the occasional one-fingered salute, most here couldn't wait to get the span up and running.
At 3 p.m., Chesapeake city officials plan to cut a ribbon and reopen the Jordan Bridge for service, ending the longest period the bridge has been closed since it was built just after the turn of the century.
The bridge has undergone at least $2.4 million in structural repairs, which city officials predict should allow it to continue linking Portsmouth with South Norfolk for another five years. Hall and other longtime bridge employees, however, are certain it will last far longer.
``I missed it so bad,'' said Johnny McPherson, who has worked the bridge for 33 years. ``For a while, we felt sorry for the bridge. If you're used to being around the public, you miss 'em when they're not around.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Bill Tiernan, The Virginian-Pilot
Ironworkers complete the last details on the Jordan Bridge. The span
will reopen Friday afternoon.
William T. Hall, superintendent of the Jordan Bridge, has worked on
the bridge since 1955. The span across the Southern Branch of the
Elizabeth River closed in May 1994 for structural repairs after the
pulley system failed.
Color map
by CNB