THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996 TAG: 9605140272
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: YORKTOWN LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Despite early weather delays, the new George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge between Yorktown and Gloucester Point opened to traffic Monday morning, three days ahead of schedule.
``It was like a big party,'' Sheila Larson, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said. ``Folks were yelling out their windows, honking their horns and saying, `Great job!' ''
The span, built at Norfolk International Terminals and then floated to the York River, had been scheduled to open Thursday.
About 180 commuters who had driven to work via a 75-mile detour through West Point during the closure lined up on the Gloucester side of the river to cross the bridge for the first time, Larson said.
``We're very excited and very grateful to the people who decided to take an alternate route'' during the closure, Larson said. ``We very much appreciate the cooperation that we have received from them.''
The crossing officially opened at 8:26 a.m. Although the new bridge features two lanes in each direction, only one lane was open each way Monday morning.
The $103 million project made history as the first time a bridge was built in complete sections ready to carry traffic, then floated to the body of water and set into place.
The state Department of Transportation had given Tidewater Construction Corp., based in Virginia Beach, 12 days to take away the largest double-swing bridge in the country, then float in and assemble the new span in six sections.
If Tidewater had not completed the bridge on schedule, the company would have been charged $8,000 an hour for every hour it finished late.
For finishing 69 1/2 hours early, the company received a bonus of $278,000, or $4,000 an hour.
The original contract gave the company two 12-day periods, separated by a month, to shut down the bridge for construction. Instead, company officials said they needed only one shutdown, and received about $1.2 million for that change.
Starting in August, motorists will pay a one-way toll of $2 per car. Commuters in a fast-toll program will pay a one-way fee of 50 cents.
Transportation officials said a formal opening ceremony for the span will be held in late July or early August. During the ceremony, the department plans to honor Dennis O'Toole, an ironworker from Virginia Beach who died when he fell into the Elizabeth River while working on one of the spans last June. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Representatives of Tidewater Construction Corp. of Virginia Beach
inspect the new George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge Monday. The span,
built at Norfolk International Terminals and then floated to the
York River, had been scheduled to open Thursday.
A teddy bear greets commuters on the new Coleman bridge.
by CNB