CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A damaged bridge is still causing traffic headaches for drivers in the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, and city leaders said it could take weeks before the bridge is repaired.
On Friday, a spud barge struck the underside of the 168 Bypass Bridge on the Chesapeake Expressway, damaging one of the bridge girders, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Chesapeake Public Works Director Earl Sorey said the barge that caused the damage had telescoping poles that go into the mud when at work. At the time, they were lifted so high that they hit the bridge.
On the city's FAQ page on the incident, they say the city will ask the U.S. Coast Guard to reevaluate the height restriction on this bridge to prevent this from happening again.
Inspectors determined the bridge is safe to drive on but have still closed one southbound lane. Several days later, it's still causing problems for drivers.
Chesapeake drivers 'infuriated' by days of traffic congestion
Chesapeake resident Whitney Gibson said the whole situation is infuriating, and hundreds of comments on Facebook echo that feeling.
People are saying they’ve been stuck in traffic leading onto that bridge for hours and are seeing congestion even when they try to take a detour.
Gibson drove her regular route earlier this week when she saw a stream of brake lights ahead of her.
"I didn’t realize what the backup was. I thought it was an accident," she said. "It’s about 30 minutes for me to travel from my house to my job out in Suffolk, and just coming home today, it tripled my commute time."
She said even alternate routes are congested.
"It’s so backed up every direction you take," she said. "I think everybody’s number one question is, ‘What’s the game plan?’"
Rt. 168 Bypass Bridge repairs could take weeks
As of Wednesday afternoon, city leaders still didn't have concrete information about the timeline for repairs.
City officials said fixing a bridge of this kind will take specialized professionals who will likely need to travel from out of state, so the repair could take several weeks.
Sorey told 13News Now that crews will fix the damaged girder through a process called heat straightening.
“So, applying heat to that member, straightening the bridge, and then stiffening up that member and putting in some cross members,” he said.
He said city staff are taking a design-build approach.
“We’ve already engaged a contractor," Sorey said. "We’ve engaged a design team. We’re looking at preliminary design plans now.”
Currently, repairs are estimated to cost around $750,000, though, that number could change.
Sorey said he hopes repair work can get started as early as next week and expects it to take about 30 days to be completed.
What the city's said about lane closures and traffic plans
On Wednesday the city said a second southbound lane was reopened on Wednesday, but the lanes "are narrow and offset, so please use caution through the work zone."
Traffic will be reduced back to one lane any time work or inspections are underway on the bridge. Dump trucks and larger vehicles are prohibited on the bridge due to weigh restrictions while repairs are underway.
"Smaller work trucks, box trucks, recreational vehicles, buses & personal pickup trucks are all okay to continue to use the southbound bridge," the city said.
The current lane closure is in place to relieve some weight from the affected area on the bridge so that no further damage is done. The city says it will release information on changes to the traffic plan, including the potential to reopen the second lane at certain times, as soon as it can.
Sorey said drivers should expect delays, but some relief should come by the weekend.
“One of the things that we’ll be doing by the weekend anyhow is closing off the center of those southbound lanes and then running two lanes of traffic on reduced lanes," he said. "It’s similar to what you see on the High Rise Bridge on 64.”
To stay up-to-date, the city has told residents to text 168BRIDGE to 888777 to receive regular text updates on the bridge repair project.
Another bridge closure on Thursday
In the meantime, a scheduled project on another nearby bridge wrapped up early.
The Centerville Turnpike Bridge was scheduled to be closed completely for 24 hours, 8 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday, so that crews can work on a scheduled water main project. The detour for that closure will take drivers to the damaged Rt. 168 Bypass Bridge.
In a note on the city's website, officials said they discussed postponing the work due to the traffic issues on the Rt. 168 Bypass Bridge, but decided to move forward anyway.
"The cost to [postpone work on the Centerville Turnpike Bridge] would be about $600,000 due to work already completed that would have to be redone," the city statement read. "For that reason, it was decided that moving forward with the closure was the best option."
Fortunately for drivers, work on the Centerville Turnpike Bridge wrapped up early and the bridge was reopened about five hours ahead of schedule on Thursday afternoon.
