Above, I'm standing on the eastbound span of the west approach span of the James River Bridge, looking south onto I-95. It is apparent how high that Route 895 passes over I-95. The elevated ramp is Ramp E, the ramp from northbound I-95 to eastbound Route 895. The lower ramp bridge is the existing ramp from southbound VA-150 to northbound I-95. The former Falling Creek Toll Plaza was just beyond the lower overpass bridge, and the wider pavement for the toll plaza is still in place on the right.

Above, I'm standing on the eastbound span of the west approach span of the James River Bridge, from similar vantage point as previous photo, but looking toward Ramp E, the elevated ramp from northbound I-95 to eastbound Route 895. The lower ramp bridge is the existing ramp from southbound VA-150 to northbound I-95. The ground level ramp is from northbound I-95 to northbound VA-150 Chippenham Parkway. The roadway at the bottom edge of the photo is northbound I-95.

Above, I'm standing on the eastbound span of the west approach span of the James River Bridge, looking south onto I-95. Again, it is apparent how high that Route 895 passes over I-95. The elevated ramp is Ramp E, the ramp from northbound I-95 to eastbound Route 895. The lower ramp bridge is the existing ramp from southbound VA-150 to northbound I-95. The former Falling Creek Toll Plaza was just beyond the lower overpass bridge, and the wider pavement for the toll plaza is still in place on the right.

Above, I'm standing on the eastbound span of the west approach span of the James River Bridge, looking south. Same vantage point as the previous photo, taken a few minutes later, but with a 135mm (2.7x) telephoto lens instead of the 50mm regular lens used in previous photo. The elevated ramp under construction is Ramp E, the ramp from northbound I-95 to eastbound Route 895. The I-95 bridges over Falling Creek are about 300 feet long, and are visible right before the highway's horizontal curve begins. The Falling Creek bridges were rehabilitated with complete replacement of superstructure (beams and deck) in a separate project (not part of the Route 895 project) and were completed in February 2001 in a $6.8 million project that included a short I-95 mainline bridge just north of the Route 895 bridge. The Falling Creek bridges (there are indeed two, with a gap of about 6 inches between the two) have three through lanes and a right auxiliary lane and full shoulders on the northbound bridge, and three through lanes and two right auxiliary lanes and full shoulders on the southbound bridge. These bridge rehabilitations were part of the ongoing, mostly complete, program to rehabilitate bridges that were built as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, which was opened in 1958 with six lanes north of Maury Street in Richmond, and with four lanes south of Maury Street, with the 22-mile section from Maury Street to I-85 in Petersburg (which includes the Falling Creek area) widened to six lanes 1974-1978. The inner two through lanes each way of the I-95 Falling Creek bridges were opened in 1958, and the outer through lane and auxiliary lane each way was opened in 1978; so much of these structures were over 40 years old and were in need of major rebabilitation. The rehab project did add one additional southbound auxiliary lane for Ramp G, the ramp from westbound Route 895 to southbound I-95.

Next: Route 895 Construction - May 2002 - Photos 9-13

© Copyright 2002 by Scott Kozel, and all photos taken by same. All rights reserved.

Lead page for Route 895 Construction - May 2002
Lead page for Route 895 Construction
Lead page for Route 895 Connector (Pocahontas Parkway)

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By Scott M. Kozel, Roads to the Future