The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1928-07-06
SEVEN MILLION
DOLLAR BRIDGE
PROJECT in VA.
And What 1t Means To Eliz.
abeth City and Eastern
North Carolina

A bridge project in the
Hampton Roads area of Vir-
ginia representing an outlay in
cost of approximately $780,
600 when completed in Decem-
Der of this year will bring the
route of a great national motor
artery through the setting
where the first act of the
drama OF American statehood
was enacted and promises a
lively flow of tourists over At
lantic Coastal Highway on
which Elizabeth City is locat-
ed.
jamestown. Williamsburg an Il
Yorktown. ShrineS which embOG:y
the actual beginnings Of Il nation.
will thus hp linked with national
highways serving every nation OF
the county.
Will Aid Trade
The bridge units included in the
project proper will serve yet an
other important and useful purpose
in knitting together the far remov-
ed communities of Hampton Roads,
stimulating trade intercourse and
activities of all kinds in this section
where thriving cities. now depen--
dent upon slow boat travel. will he
thrown in closer contact by this
rcw physical connection.
The pilgrimage through the his
toric Virginia peninsula, with the
new bridge links supporting arti-
sir;al highways across broad bodies
of water. and furnishing the deSir-
cd outlets for through motor traf-
fic, will provide the motCrist with
an opportunity virtually to walk
through pages Of American history
from its earliest beginning.
From Old to New
With jamestown, WilliamSDurG
and Yorktown near the center OF
the peninsula, where the march OF
time has left few marks to denote
it's pasSag ge. the trail, will lead into
the progressive Hampton Roads
area. aptly characterizinS the
ssrides of American development
from settlements days to the com.
Thus the old and the new will I've
preSentet. when the quaint old Will
IiHnsburg is restored. according 10
present plans. to the appearance IT
had nj the time when the moment
ouS events which led up to the
American Revolution tranSpired
there, Is compared with the moSt
modern Cf engineering attainments
Incorporated in the building or the
bridge project i'll the general Haihp-
ton Roads area.
Three Bridges
Included in the project are three
scrarate bridge structures, ana zen
and n half miles Of interconnertlnS
concrete road approaches. Ihe
largest and most important OF the
bridges, the I.S1mile Newport News
lanes River bridge, spanning the
James River at Il point near the
nupruyimate head t Hampton
Rr1fs, will bc connected with tWo
smuller bridge links on the south
side of the river, the NanSemond
river bridge and the Crlttendell
bridge across the Chuckaturk creek.
! The former structure approx
mates one mile in length. Willie the
Iuttcr is n half-milc span. lnnora-
ton accompanying the construction
of the project, together with the
huge proportions of the general ell
, terpriSc. stamp the undertaking as
perhaps the largest ever attempted
in the South.
| OF interest to Northeastern North
Carolina motorists is the fact that
the completion of the first bridse
project over the NanSemond lslVer
already provides a new short route
between liHaheth City and Rlch-
mond via Portsmouth and Smith
field saving the motoriSt Il tedious
ferry trim between the Norfolk
Naval Base and Newport News.
Eastern North CarolinianS Is the
But of far greater interest TO
fact that the Atlantic Coastal High
way is made more attractive TO
i tourists and thousands of tourists
will he headed this way to and from
the historic Virginia region.