Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge

Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge
Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge
	Image from the bridge
Coordinates	35°53′13″N 75°43′57″W / 35.887°N 75.73245°W
Carries	; US 64 Byp.
Crosses	Croatan Sound
Locale	Dare County
Named for	Virginia Dare
Owner	NCDOT
Maintained by	NCDOT
Characteristics
Design	Segmented girder
Material	Prestressed concrete
Total length	27,581.4 feet (8,406.8 m)
Width	67.6 feet (20.6 m)
Clearance below	65.9 feet (20.1 m)
History
Constructed by	Balfour Beatty Construction
Construction cost	$90 million
Opened	August 16, 2002
Statistics
Daily traffic	4,000 (as of 2010)
Location
References

The Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge is a four-lane automobile bridge in Dare County, North Carolina, spanning the Croatan Sound between Manns Harbor and Roanoke Island. The bridge carries US 64 Bypass and is utilized by local and seasonal tourist traffic.

The bridge is dedicated to the memory of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas, in 1587.

At a length of 5.2 miles (8.4 km), the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge is the longest in the state. It travels over .75 miles (1.2 km) of wetlands, with the remaining 4.45 miles (7.2 km) over the Croatan Sound. The bridge rises to 65 feet (20 m) at its apex and is supported by 88 concrete columns and more than 2,000 pilings, which extend 100 feet (30 m) below the water. The bridge deck has 7,250 tons of epoxy-coated reinforcement steel and was designed with a 100-year life span.^[3]^[4]

The bridge complements and runs parallel to the older William B. Umstead Bridge, which carries US 64 between Manns Harbor and Manteo and is located farther north. The bridge is the westernmost in a series of three, along with the Washington Baum Bridge and Melvin R. Daniels Bridge, connecting the North Carolina mainland with the Outer Banks communities via US 64 and US 64 Bypass.

History[edit]

In 1996, two hurricanes forced evacuation of the Outer Banks area during peak tourist season. The existing William B. Umstead Bridge, built in 1955 and having only two lanes, was unable to handle the high volume of traffic during the evacuation. To help alleviate traffic congestion and provide an additional emergency evacuation route from the Outer Banks, planning for a new bridge began in earnest. In January 1997, Wilbur Smith Associates was selected for the design of the bridge. In April 1998, Balfour Beatty Construction was awarded the prime construction contract.^[4]

On August 16, 2002, the bridge was dedicated by NCDOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett and was opened that day.^[3] The bridge initially carried US 64 Bypass and US 264 Bypass; but in September 2003, the US 264 Bypass designation was removed.^[5]

References[edit]

^ "US64/US264 over Croatan Sound". Uglybridges.com. Retrieved April 21, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Baughn, James; et al. "Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Historic Bridge Foundation. Retrieved 2013-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ ^a ^b "Secretary Lyndo Tippett – 2002 Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge Dedication Ceremony" (Press release). North Carolina Department of Transportation. August 16, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2015.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ ^a ^b Randy Midgett and Don Barber (May 16, 2003). "The perfect dare". Roads & Bridges. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ "Route Change (2003-09-15)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. September 15, 2003. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

External links[edit]

Media related to Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "US64/US264 over Croatan Sound". Uglybridges.com. Retrieved April 21, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[2] Baughn, James; et al. "Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Historic Bridge Foundation. Retrieved 2013-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[dedication-3] "Secretary Lyndo Tippett – 2002 Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge Dedication Ceremony" (Press release). North Carolina Department of Transportation. August 16, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2015.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[RoadsBridges-4] Randy Midgett and Don Barber (May 16, 2003). "The perfect dare". Roads & Bridges. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[5] "Route Change (2003-09-15)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. September 15, 2003. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

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v t e Outer Banks of North Carolina and Virginia
Landforms	Bodie Island Knotts Island Monkey Island Mary Island Colington Island Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula Roanoke Island Pea Island Hatteras Island No Ache Island Cape Hatteras Shelly Island Ocracoke Island Beacon Island Portsmouth Island Core Banks Cape Lookout
Places	City of Virginia Beach Sandbridge Currituck County Knotts Island Carova Beach Corolla Dare County Duck Southern Shores Kitty Hawk Kill Devil Hills Colington Nags Head Whalebone Junction Manteo Wanchese Rodanthe Waves Salvo Avon Buxton Frisco Hatteras Hyde County Ocracoke Carteret County Portsmouth Cape Lookout Village
Waterways	Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Bays Onslow Bay Raleigh Bay Back Bay Knotts Island Bay Sounds Currituck Sound Albemarle Sound Croatan Sound Roanoke Sound Pamlico Sound Core Sound Back Sound Inlets Oregon Inlet New Inlet Isabel Inlet Hatteras Inlet Ocracoke Inlet Drum Inlet Barden Inlet
Lighthouses	Currituck Beach Light Bodie Island Light Cape Hatteras Light Ocracoke Light Cape Lookout Light
Protected areas and wildlife	National Seashores Cape Hatteras National Seashore Cape Lookout National Seashore Wildlife Refuges Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge Currituck National Wildlife Refuge Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge State Parks False Cape State Park Jockey's Ridge State Park State Coastal Reserves Kitty Hawk Woods Buxton Woods Game Lands Currituck Banks Game Land Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land Buxton Woods Game Land Preserves Nags Head Woods Preserve Roanoke Island Marshes Preserve Museums, zoos, and institutes North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum University of North Carolina - Coastal Studies Institute Other Mountains-to-Sea Trail Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Wright Brothers National Memorial Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Run Hill State Natural Area Wildlife Banker horse Red wolf
Transportation	Routes North Carolina Highway 12 North Carolina Highway 45 U.S. Highway 64 U.S. Highway 64 Bypass U.S. Highway 158 North Carolina Highway 345 North Carolina Highway 400 North Carolina Highway 615 Historic Albemarle Tour North Carolina Ferry System Bridges Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge Marc Basnight Bridge Herbert C. Bonner Bridge Wright Memorial Bridge William B. Umstead Bridge Washington Baum Bridge Melvin R. Daniels Bridge Rodanthe Bridge Mid-Currituck Bridge Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge Airports Dare County Regional Airport First Flight Airport Billy Mitchell Airport Ocracoke Island Airport
History	Events and places Pea Island Life-Saving Station Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Roanoke Colony Graveyard of the Atlantic Torpedo Alley Battle of the Atlantic Hatteras Weather Bureau Station Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island People Roanoke people Croatan Wanchese Manteo John White Richard Grenville Blackbeard Raleigh Virginia Dare Marc Basnight
Weather	1936 Outer Banks hurricane 1945 Outer Banks hurricane Hurricane Fran Hurricane Irene Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Dorian Hazard mitigation

History[edit]

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