THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160255
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Dignitaries and residents flocked to the foot of the Jordan Bridge Friday, paying tribute to a faithful community servant left broken and lonely for too long.
The span, closed for a year and a half while city officials debated whether to fix or abandon it, reopened on schedule.
Jubilant residents of South Norfolk, the section of Chesapeake where the bridge is located, celebrated the restoration of their link to neighboring Portsmouth.
``I'm so happy, I don't know what in the world to do,'' said A. Irene Carley, 82, who was the first person to cross the bridge when it first opened in 1928. She walked then, pushing her newborn's white baby stroller. This time, she rode in a car.
Carley said that when the bridge was closed in May 1994, due to a mechanical failure, ``I was sick. I just felt like I had lost everything.
``All these years, I felt like it (the bridge) was a part of us.''
South Norfolk residents, struggling to rebuild their aging neighborhood, worried that the closing of the span would isolate their community.
The bridge was shut down as a preventive measure. A pulley wheel, which raises and lowers the span's mid-section over the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River to allow boat traffic to pass, began to malfunction.
The wheel began slipping off its axle, which operates much like its automobile counterpart. John A. O'Connor, the city's public works director, said that if the wheel had slipped off, it would have been beyond repair.
Officials elected to close the bridge before that happened.
The repair work needed to reopen the bridge - which cost $1.4 million - took only two months. General contractors Williams and Beasley Co. oversaw the project, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, which had helped repair the other three pulley wheels in years past, manufactured the new parts.
The delay came because city officials spent more than a year trying to decide whether to turn the span over to a private firm, which would have demolished the old bridge and built a new one. That would have taken more time, cost more money in tolls and irritated local residents even more, but it would have ensured a longer-lasting link between Portsmouth and South Norfolk.
The repairs to the old Jordan Bridge, including about $1 million more in minor restoration work yet to be completed, will extend the life of the bridge only by about five years.
``During this period, it is essential that we all continue our efforts to acquire the funds necessary'' to construct a more permanent crossing, said Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, the first to try out the newly operational span. Ward, riding in an antique car, led a convoy of anxious drivers heading from South Norfolk to Portsmouth.
After the first ceremonial drivers were allowed to cross for free, reflective road signs warning away traffic finally were removed from the bridge approach. Paying cars immediately began snaking under the span's canopy of steel beams, drivers gladly handing over the 50-cent toll. The charge is the same as it was before the bridge closed.
Big Foot, the fluffy cat who lives on the bridge grounds, stared contemptuously at all the activity, a long vacation of peace and quiet abruptly ended.
But all the other bridge regulars were glad the hiatus was over. The 25-30 Jordan Bridge workers had been assigned to other duties for the city's public works department, such as answering phones, cutting grass or stocking supplies. They were glad to be back to their old posts.
``I want to make change,'' said toll collector Phyllis A. Taylor, staring anxiously toward Portsmouth, waiting for the first cars to stop at her booth. ``It's been a long time.'' ILLUSTRATION: BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Police lead a convoy, including Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, to
celebrate the reopening of the Jordan Bridge. The bridge had been
closed for a year and a half due to a mechanical failure.
by CNB