COLONIAL HEIGHTS — Starting Monday night, construction crews will continue with beam installation for the second half of the new Huguenot Memorial Bridge over the James River. The construction contractor installed 22 beams in late August through early September and will install 18 more over the next three weeks.

The beam installations will take place October 1-19 between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Monday through Friday nights, weather permitting. For driver safety, traffic will be stopped periodically for up to 45 minutes each night as cranes lift the beams over the bridge and secure them into place on the new bridge. Huguenot Bridge traffic will resume between beam installations.

To avoid delays during the beam installations, VDOT recommends Huguenot Road (Route 147) drivers use the following alternate routes:

• Northbound – Chippenham Parkway (Route 150) north over the Willey Bridge to River Road east to Huguenot Road or use Powhite Parkway/Route 76 (toll) east into Richmond
• Southbound – River Road west to Chippenham Parkway (Route 150) south to Huguenot Road

As with the previous beam installation, the contractor will install the 80,000 pound steel beams from the temporary causeway on the west side of the bridge in order to reduce the weight over a critical water main on the east side of the bridge. The contractor plans to install the remaining eight beams in November (schedule to be announced).

The Huguenot Bridge spans the James River and connects Richmond city limits to the south and Henrico County to the north via Huguenot Road. Approximately 25,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day. To find out more about the Huguenot Bridge reconstruction project or to sign up for project updates, visit www.HuguenotBridge.org.

(END)

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.