Evening star., 1952-03-10
By George Kennedy

Washington motorists bound for
Virginia Beach this summer will
be able to make good time by tax
ing Route II from Fredericksburg
and crossing the York River on
the new So million George P. Cole
man Memorial Bridge now in the
final stages Of construction.
It is expected that the bridge
which will replace the ferry from
Gloucester Point to Yorktown, will
be opened to traffic in May. The
weather during the next so days
will be the determining factor as
to the date of opening. Tolls will
be rs cents for passenger cars.
One of the remaining tasks Is
the laying Of the huge cable which
will deliver the power that wiz
operate the swing spans bridging
the 500-foot ship channel-the
longest swing in the world.
The work of laying the cable
can only proceed on calm days.
and until power is delivered. the
machinery that will open and shut
the bridge cannot be tested. The
test has been set for April /. but
may be delayed.
Route II is a two-lane black-top
highway in excellent condition
that goes through Tappahannock
and Gloucester. The latter with
its well-preseryed group Of 18th
century county buildings. court
house, debtors prison, ETC., is one
of the finest relics Of Colonial
America.
The bridge scars over the old
Yorktown ferry house and will
land the motorist in the park
dominated by earthwork fortif1ca-
tions that are mementoes of the
siege that ended in CORVALLIS
surrender.
All except a 490-foot stretch Of
the 3,750-foot roadway across the
river has been paved. The two
swing spans stand open.
John Penry, lanky North Caro-
|linian who has superintended the
steel superstructure contract for
the American Bridge Co., a United
States Steel subsidiary, is waiting
with confidence for the test in
volved in the shutting of the spans.
He says that any error will be
less than one inch.
Suspension Span Out.
A high-level suspension bridge
that would allow the tallest ships
to pass under it was first consid-
cred. But the National Park Serv-
ice did not want any structure
that would make the shaft COM
|memorating the American victory
at Yorktown look small, as the
towers Of so high a suspension
bridge would do.
The Navy insisted that any
bridge at this point be able to
admit the largest ships afloat. The
Navy has a mine station and a
supply center upstream and the
whole channel Of the York. is q
Navy anchorage.
A swing bridge was decided on.
The design and construction of
the bridge have been ingenious,
especially in the matter of the
piers on which the big spans
swing.
The bridge was designed by the
engineering firm of Parsons.
Brinckerhoff. Hull & Macdonald.
The substructure was built by two
Kansas City contractors who
Joined forces for the job - the
.Aassman Construction Co. and the
Kansas City Bridge Co.
Erected ut Narrows.
The York river IS q wide body of
water above Yorktown and be-
tween Yorktown and Chesapeake
Bay. The site Of the bridge is
narrow-only 2.700 feet. But the
narrow part Of q tidal river is
where the tide flows fastest. The
water Is deeper also. And the prob
lem was made more difficult by
what engineers called "the poor
bearing quality of the underlying
strata" The bottom is mud and
sand.
For six of the concrete piers
which were to support the bridge
in deep water it was decided to
construct steel caissions which
could be imbedded in the river
bottom. The caissons were huge
affairs. Those for the piers that
twere to support the swing spans
were about the size of the gas
tanks that supply cities with
cooking fuel-only they were
rectangular.
The six caiSsonS were built In
lone Of the big drydocks Of the
Newport News Shipbuilding Co.
lao miles away and when they were
finished they were floated out ltkt