# High Rise Bridge

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{{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](/source/Southern_Branch_Elizabeth_River)
| locale      = [Chesapeake](/source/Chesapeake%2C_Virginia)
| 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](/source/Bascule_bridge) drawbridge that [Interstate&nbsp;64](/source/Interstate_64_in_Virginia) (I-64) and [US 17](/source/US_17) uses to cross the [Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River](/source/Southern_Branch_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](/source/Downtown_Tunnel_(Virginia)) and [Midtown Tunnel](/source/Midtown_Tunnel_(Virginia)) began tolling in 2014. Other non-interstate alternate routes include the [Gilmerton Bridge](/source/Gilmerton_Bridge) on [U.S. Route&nbsp;13](/source/U.S._Route_13_in_Virginia) (US&nbsp;13; [Military Highway](/source/Military_Highway)), as well as the tolled [Jordan Bridge](/source/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&nbsp;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](/source/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](/source/I-64_in_Virginia). 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](/source/Design%E2%80%93build) 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](/source/Southern_Branch_Elizabeth_River)
|structure=River Crossings
|bridge=I-64 High Rise Bridge
|upstream=[Gilmerton Bridge](/source/Gilmerton_Bridge)
|downstream=[Veterans Bridge](/source/Veterans_Bridge_(Chesapeake%2C_Virginia))
|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

{{Virginia-bridge-struct-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [High Rise Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Rise_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Rise_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.