Route VA-288 Construction - August 2002 - Photos 9-11

Here are 3 photos of Route VA-288 under construction, taken in early August, 2002.

Above, looking south, photo of construction of the 3,642-foot-long VA-288 James River Bridge. Construction of the bridges are complete except for some minor parapet work. I am standing near the abutments, between the two bridges. The CSXT Railroad line is visible in the foreground, and the James River is just beyond that.

The James River is about 200 feet wide at this point. The length of these bridges is dictated by the large flood plain of the James River, since a large flood such as the ones associated with Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Agnes in 1972 (downgraded to tropical storms by the time that they dumped huge amounts of rainfall in the western part of Virginia), can cause this section of the river to rise 20 to 25 feet above flood stage.

Above, looking south, photo of construction of the VA-288 James River Bridge. This photo was taken from the same vantage point as the previous photo, but it was taken with a 135mm (2.7x) telephoto lens, instead of the 50mm (1.0x) regular lens used previously.

Above, looking south, photo of construction of the VA-288 James River Bridge. Similar vantage point to previous photo, but the photo is horizontal instead of vertical.