{{Short description|Drawbridge in Chesapeake, Virginia}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{update|date=April 2024}}<!-- Requires more than just change of verb tense --> {{Infobox bridge | name=High Rise Bridge | image = | carries = {{jct|state=VA|I|64}} and {{jct|state=VA|US|17}} | crosses = Southern Branch Elizabeth River | locale = Chesapeake | begin = 1969 | open = {{Start date text|1972}} | traffic = 73,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofchesapeake.net/Page3343.aspx|title=High Rise Bridge (I-64)|publisher=|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> |coordinates = {{coord|36.7582|-76.2977|display=inline,title}} }}
The '''High Rise Bridge,''' also known as the ''G.A. Treakle Memorial Bridge'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=2005 Uncodified Act - Chapter 253 |url=https://law.lis.virginia.gov/uncodifiedacts/2005/session1/chapter253/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=law.lis.virginia.gov}}</ref> is a four-lane, bascule drawbridge that Interstate 64 (I-64) and US 17 uses to cross the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The twin spans of concrete and steel were completed in 1972, and are operated by VDOT. Currently, the High Rise Bridge is the only highway-grade toll-free crossing of the Southern Branch Elizabeth River, since the Downtown and Midtown Tunnel began tolling in 2014. Other non-interstate alternate routes include the Gilmerton Bridge on U.S. Route 13 (US 13; Military Highway), as well as the tolled Jordan Bridge in Portsmouth.
Because of the high impact a bridge opening has on traffic, the bridge only opens on a 24-hour advanced notice unless the scheduled lift time is during the bridge's restricted hours of 6–9{{nbsp}}am and 3–6{{nbsp}}pm, when a three-day notice is required. The current reconstruction project intends to produce a fixed bridge with {{convert|100|ft|m}} clearance, expected to significantly reduce traffic delays associated with bridge lifts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/bridge-expansion-tests-crews-ingenuity/43096|title=Bridge Expansion Tests Crews' Ingenuity|date=2018-12-17|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref>
==History== On Wednesday November 10, 2010 after the 2:30 opening the bridge was stuck in the up position causing widespread traffic delays. It was later attributed to an electrical outage during a lift at 2:30 p.m.. That failure caused a malfunction in the bridge's lift mechanism which caused the bridge to not close completely. Engineers had to manually lower the span back together, and reopened the bridge some three and a half hours later, at 6:00{{nbsp}}pm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2010/11/highrise-bridge-stuck-position-traffic-detoured|title=Chesapeake High-Rise Bridge reopened to traffic|work=The Virginian-Pilot|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref>
In 2016, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved a $2.3 billion project that would eventually widen the corridor of I-64 that includes the bridge to eight lanes, and would replace the drawbridge with a {{Convert|100|ft|m}} fixed span bridge, initially planned for {{Convert|135|ft|m}}, as part of the I-64 Southside Widening Project. As of October 2016, the plan is in Phase I, which would improve the corridor six lanes and build the new four lane Outer Loop bridge, which carries I-64 towards Chesapeake/Norfolk. The project is currently in Design–build status, and contract phase of 2017 has been completed<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/hamptonroads/i-64_southside__high_rise_bridge_phased_construction.asp|title=I-64 Southside & High Rise Bridge Phased Construction|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=|archive-date=October 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024153641/http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/hamptonroads/i-64_southside__high_rise_bridge_phased_construction.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/hampton_roads/2017/contract_awarded_to_build120432.asp|work=The Virginian-Pilot|title=Contract awarded to build new High Rise Bridge|date=2017-10-24|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/chesapeake/groundbreaking-on-i-64-widening-high-rise-bridge-project/291-506860993|title=Groundbreaking on I-64 widening, High Rise Bridge project|date=2018-01-12|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref> and completion done in July 2022.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pilotonline.com/inside-business/article_1f82c230-f81a-11e8-b84d-7b36d0f4f734.html|title=I-64 High-Rise Bridge project could raise economic opportunities|date=2018-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-15 |title=Chesapeake's new High Rise Bridge opens Saturday |url=https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/chesapeake/chesapeake-new-high-rise-bridge-ready-to-open-i-64/291-e3c65534-3fc5-474a-9ded-ecea39c56f1d |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=13newsnow.com |language=en-US}}</ref> {{Crossings navbox|place=Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River |structure=River Crossings |bridge=I-64 High Rise Bridge |upstream=Gilmerton Bridge |downstream=Veterans Bridge |bridge signs=30px |downstream signs={{unbulleted list |30px |30px }} |upstream signs=30px}} {{Transportation in the Hampton Roads Region}}
==See also== * {{Portal-inline|Transport}} * {{Portal-inline|Engineering}} * {{Portal-inline|Virginia}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Crossings of the Elizabeth River Category:Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Category:Road bridges in Virginia Category:Bridges in Chesapeake, Virginia Category:Moveable bridges on the Interstate Highway System Category:Transportation in Chesapeake, Virginia Category:Interstate 64 Category:Steel bridges in the United States Category:Bascule bridges in the United States
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