Advance Mills Bridge Replacement

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The Advance Mills Bridge that carries Route 743 (Advance Mills Road) over the North Fork Rivanna River has been closed since April 2007, after inspectors with the Virginia Department of Transportation determined the steel truss bridge was no longer strong enough to hold the posted weight limit. That has meant a long detour for many residents of northwestern Albemarle County, who lost north-south access to Earlysville when the bridge was closed. Repairs are expected to be completed by December 23, 2009 at a total cost of $1,934,457.50[1]. When complete, the bridge is expected to have the capacity to carry public safety vehicles and school buses, something that VDOT said has not been allowed since the early 1970’s when the bridge weight limit was reduced to 8 tons.

The original specified completion date of the project was November 24, 2009, one month before the current completion date. Construction was delayed by what VDOT calls the "unanticipated conditions" of additional rock being found when drilling occurred to install bridge supports.

The replacement bridge, when complete, will two-lane and steel trussed. It will be wide enough to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The approaching roadways on either side are being widened to match the bridge's width and improvements are being made to increase line-of-sight on the east side of the bridge.

VDOT originally planned to install a temporary bridge on the existing alignment while designing a new location for a permanent bridge. However, budget cuts forced VDOT to abandon that strategy in favor of building a permanent bridge on the existing alignment[2] The steel truss bridge was installed in 1943, and is part of the Advance Mills Historic District. That has also required VDOT to work with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to come up with a plan to mitigate the effects on the district.

History of the Bridge

For a full history visit this site and possibly add material here in the future...

Map

External links

VDOT's Advance Mills project page

Notes

  1. Advance Mills Bridge VDOT Project Website[1]
  2. "VDOT pledges to speed up Advance Mills replacement project; temporary bridge cancelled." cvilletomorrow.org. Charlottesville Tomorrow. 28 February 2008. 13 January 2009. [2]