Towering dozens of feet above the York River, the George P. Coleman Bridge is a hulking part of the Yorktown and Gloucester horizon.
Every month, the four-lane bridge carries nearly one million vehicles over the historic river, where the 1781 sunken fleet of British Gen. Charles Cornwallis still sleeps underwater in the mud.
While the bridge spans 3,750 feet over a landmark area from the American Revolution, the picturesque structure is also the largest double-swing span bridge in the United States — and the second-largest in the world.
“It also tends to catch on-lookers’ attention when opening due to the fact that it swings outward to open instead of lifting the spans vertically like many other bridges,” said Brittany McBride Nichols, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The bridge is one of five drawbridges and the only swing span bridge in VDOT’s Hampton Roads District.
History
The original two-lane Coleman Bridge first opened in 1952.
The bridge was designed to carry 15,000 vehicles per day, and charged a toll — similar to today. The toll was removed in 1976 after the bridge’s debt was paid.
By 1994, the bridge was seeing up to 27,000 vehicles per day, forcing VDOT to plan a newer, larger bridge.
In 1996, a new bridge three-times the original size — and another toll — were put into place. The latest version of the Coleman Bridge has two lanes each way and cost about $73 million to construct.
“The construction of the new bridge in 1996 was a pretty amazing feat as well since it was dismantled and reconstructed in only nine days by constructing the new swing spans and truss off site and then floated in,” McBride Nichols said.
The bridge spans and truss were fully assembled with pavement, light poles and barrier walls already in place, McBride Nichols said. Those parts were floated on barges more than 30 miles to Yorktown from Norfolk.
McBride Nichols said the Coleman Bridge was “reportedly the first known project” in the nation where parts of a bridge the size of the Coleman were floated on barges completely ready for traffic.
Today, the bridge only opens when a vessel demands it, and remains closed from 5 to 8 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday except during emergencies, according to the VDOT website.
Tolls
Those two travel the Coleman Bridge may be familiar with the $2 toll required when entering Gloucester.
The Coleman Bridge charges a toll for travelers moving from south to north, from Yorktown to Gloucester. The toll is $2 for a two-axle car, $3 for three axles and $4 for four or more axles.
Those with an E-ZPass pay 85 cents per crossing.
So, why is there a toll in one direction, but not the other?
McBride Nichols said modeling shows the one-way toll was the most-cost effective because it “reduces the operational footprint.”
“Traffic moves more smoothly as you are farther away from a controlled intersection, which exists in the southbound direction,” she said.
Each year, VDOT collects about $6 million from Coleman Bridge tolls, which help pay for the bridge’s operations and maintenance, as well as debt obligations.
Any change to the toll rate must be approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
