WHITE STONE—The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its contractor will begin a structural steel rehabilitation project on the Robert O. Norris Jr. Memorial Bridge this week.
Travelers can expect overnight delays on Route 3 over the Rappahannock River. The $7.1 million maintenance project is necessary to maintain the Norris Bridge as preliminary engineering work progresses on a separate bridge replacement project, reported VDOT senior communications specialist Darragh Frye.
Norris Bridge is listed in fair condition and remains safe for traffic with its current 45-ton weight limit posting. This maintenance project will replace or strengthen portions of the bridge’s structural steel. The 67-year-old bridge is nearly two miles long and connects Lancaster and Middlesex counties.
Lane closures
A portion of the bridge will be reduced to a single travel lane for the overnight work. Automated flagging devices will direct traffic through the work zone. Flagging crew members operate the devices, which can be rapidly adjusted to respond to congestion or incidents on the bridge, said Frye.
Overnight lane closures are anticipated to be scheduled for approximately two weeks to take measurements and to verify materials needed to make the repairs.
Starting Monday, March 31, lane closures will occur from midnight-6 a.m. and 7 p.m.-midnight, Mondays through Fridays, and midnight-9 a.m. and 9 p.m.-midnight Saturdays and Sundays. Updates on lane closures for the work zone will be available on 511.vdot.virginia.gov. Travelers also can download the free mobile 511Virginia app, or call 511 from any phone in Virginia.
Message boards will be posted at both bridge approaches to alert travelers to the upcoming work zone.
Once measurements are complete, the necessary steel elements will be manufactured to repair the bridge. Crews anticipate…..
