Above, looking north, standing near VA-711 where the future VA-288 roadways will be built, along with a VA-711 overpass over VA-288 and a diamond interchange between VA-288 and VA-711. The construction of the VA-288 James River Bridge is in distance. A deep cut will be excavated in the hill in the distance. North of the river is Goochland County, and south of the river is Powhatan County. This photo was taken with a 135mm (2.7x) telephoto lens coupled with a 2x teleconverter, effectively providing a 270mm (5.4x) telephoto lens.

Above, looking north, construction of VA-288 roadways about 1/4 mile south of the James River. This was on a Sunday when there was very little construction work underway on the project. A line of heavy excavation construction equipment is parked on the grade where the highway is being built. Actually you can see this line of heavy construction vehicles in the photo at the top, head-on well in the distance. The first four vehicles are scraper pans, which are commonly used on highway projects for heavy grading. A scraper pan can move about 15 cubic yards of earth in one "scrape, haul and distribute" operation. This vehicle is commonly called a "pan" by project construction workers and supervisors. Going backward from the last pan, there is a large backhoe, a motorgrader, a sheepfoot roller, and a water distributor truck.

Above, looking north, construction of VA-288 roadways about 1/4 mile south of the James River. Similar vantage point to the previous photo, but a closer view of the scraper pans.

Lead article for Route 288 Construction - October 2001
Lead article for Richmond Beltway (I-295 and VA-288)

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By Scott M. Kozel, Roads to the Future