THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608150171
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 79 lines
Ask most citizens how to get to Dozier's Bridge, over West Neck Creek, and you are likely to get a resounding ``Huh?'' for a response.
That's because the low-profile, 48-foot-long structure blends into the roadway at the point of a sharp curve in Princess Anne Road, where you'd better be watching out for oncoming traffic and not watching the scenery.
All that will be changing over the next 12 months as a project in the works since 1992 marches toward its completion date of July 26, 1997. A new bridge is being built, the road straightened, and a landscaped public canoe ramp and parking area will be created at the site of the old bridge on Princess Anne Road between Holland and Seaboard roads.
The existing bridge, built in 1959 of timber and steel, is within 2 1/2 years of the end of its life as a full service bridge. Due to its condition and the amount of traffic it now carries, restrictions would have to be put on it at that time, hampering the movements of school buses and emergency vehicles. Carrying the load of much of the traffic in and out of the city's southeastern corridor in the future will be a reinforced concrete bridge nearly twice as wide and 1 1/2 times as long as the old structure.
Enhancing its appearance will be parapets of Colonial brick 3 to 5 feet high. The construction of the bridge will be done by Mid-Eastern Builders of Chesapeake, which recently completed the new Bow Creek Boulevard bridge.
The new bridge will be built about 100 feet south of the existing structure. This move will enable city engineers to straighten the road's sharp curve leading into the crossing from the direction of the Municipal Center, less than one mile away.
Construction of the bridge and approaches on either side of West Neck Creek will involve clearing a strip of heavily wooded area more than 1,400 feet long. The swampy nature of the soil there contributes to the project's $2.4 million price tag. Expensive sheet pilings must be driven in, allowing the compressible swampy soil to be replaced.
City Engineer Phil Pullen, the bridge's project manager, says several hundred thousand square yards of the soft soil will be replaced with less-compressible sandy soil. Though the bridge will remain open during construction, extensive use of ``flagging'' will be necessary during the excavation phase to allow for the movement of as many as 100 dump trucks per day until the soil is replaced.
Much of the time involved in bringing the project to the construction phase, which began Aug. 1, was the need to satisfy requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The new roadway cuts through 1.15 acres of undeveloped wetlands. In preparing an environmental impact study, a consultant to the city discovered the presence of a Southeastern Dismal Swamp shrew. This tiny creature, which reportedly may soon be removed from the endangered species list, has cost Pullen hundreds of hours of discussion and planning.
Pullen said he is pleased, however, with the result of the negotiations. Rather than have to create additional wetlands to mitigate for the loss of those at the bridge site, the Corps has agreed to accept a ``preservation easement'' of 23 acres of city-owned property that is also adjacent to West Neck Creek. Most of the property abuts the complex of the Municipal Garage on Leroy Drive, which also contains the Police Academy and Police Heliport.
Though the city has promised not to develop these areas, subject to Corps approval the agreement may allow for eventual utilization of the lands for ``passive recreational'' uses such as nature trails, Pullen said.
While motorists will be traversing the new bridge next spring, canoeists will have to wait a few more months to enjoy the addition of a canoe ramp next to the bridge.
Construction of the ramp and parking area won't begin until the new bridge opens to traffic. The old bridge will be removed, though the old road sections adjacent to the creek will remain for utility maintenance access.
The canoe area will be built at the western end of the old roadway. A cul de sac will be paved at the end of the road adjacent to a treated wooden platform at the water's edge that will serve as the canoe launch site. Landscaping and lighting will be added, along with four parking spaces to augment on-street parking. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Dozier's Bridge on Princess Anne Road will be replaced.
The new bridge, expected to be completed on July 26, 1997, will also
have a public canoe ramp and parking area. by CNB