THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609080051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 57 lines
The creosote-soaked bridge crossing the Northwest River appears as ancient as the trees that line Bunch Walnuts Road.
But the span, with its gentle bentwood arches, isn't a relic of rural Chesapeake history. It's the result of a federal program designed to boost the timber industry by offering incentives to replace girders, concrete and cables with wood.
Construction on the Bunch Walnuts Road project began in August 1995, and the bridge opened in March. Now city officials say their only wooden span has become one of the most popular public works projects in the city's history.
``We've received more compliments about it than we have for just about anything else,'' said public works director John O'Connor.
In Chesapeake, where commercial and residential growth have made much of this city resemble Anywhere, U.S.A., the wooden bridge is unique.
As you head into the woods, you can see it from a short distance, hemming the road with two arches of bent pine and weathered steel. Cars pass by quickly, having to brake as they make the slight turn where the bridge is located.
The bridge arrived prefabricated and was put together in pieces. The road was also widened and the turn smoothed .
For local residents, forced by the bridge's closure to add miles to their daily commutes, the construction seemed interminable.
Bob Walker, a father of three and the retreat activity coordinator at the nearby Triple R Ranch, likened the process to pregnancy.
``The last couple of weeks of pregnancy, my wife is saying: `Get this baby outta here!' That's what it was like with the bridge.''
During construction, a little more than six miles was added to the family's trips to Great Bridge.
And as the Triple R Ranch's summer camp season approached, Walker admitted getting antsy, going to the new bridge site every two to three days to check on the progress.
But since the new span opened, Walker and others nearby have come to love it. The agony of construction is long overshadowed by its charm.
Walker said he may even ask the city for permission to hang holiday lights on the span this winter. ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY photos/The Virginian-Pilot
The Bunch Walnuts Road wooden bridge, completed in March, was built
with help from a federal program intended to help the timber
industry. Chesapeake officials say the span has become one of the
most popular public works projects in city history.
The bridge is made of bent pine and weathered steel. It came
prefabricated and was put together in pieces.
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