VDOT News - Fredericksburg

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Travelers and mariners may observe crews and equipment gathering soil samples from the Rappahannock River bed and along the shoreline near the Robert O. Norris Bridge through spring 2024 as the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) begins preliminary engineering activities to prepare for the bridge’s replacement.

Minimal impacts are anticipated to vehicle traffic and boat traffic during this geotechnical review work. No lane closures will be needed on the bridge, which carries Route 3 traffic between Lancaster and Middlesex counties. And, no navigational channel closures will be needed in the Rappahannock River underneath the bridge. However, the project will use a barge in the river to perform the water-based geotechnical work.

The Special Structures 50-Year Long-Term Plan includes $390.3 million to replace the Norris Bridge with a two-lane bridge with shoulders and a higher rail. Funding to replace the bridge is currently programmed in the plan to begin in fiscal year 2036.

Soil samples gathered for the geotechnical review are necessary for the design of the replacement bridge and will help VDOT understand the foundation conditions that the new bridge will be built upon.

The geotechnical review will be completed under a contract with RS&H, Inc., with project support from SaLUT-TLB, Inc., and Whitman, Requardt and Associates, LLP.

Crews will mobilize as soon as Tuesday, Sept. 20, near the bridge approach in Middlesex. After gathering samples on land for several weeks, the remainder of the soil samples will be gathered from the riverbed. Once in the river, crews collecting the samples will be staged on a barge. The barge will move gradually as work progresses.

More information on the Norris Bridge replacement project is available on VDOT’s website.

While no travel lane impacts are expected with this geotechnical work, a scheduled inspection on Norris Bridge will be underway through Wednesday, Oct. 21, weather permitting. Motorists on Route 3 can expect delays crossing the bridge between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. Automated flagging devices will direct one-way, alternating traffic through the work zone when the inspection or maintenance work is underway. Real-time updates on this work zone and Route 3 lane closures will be available on 511Virginia.

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VDOT’s 14-county Fredericksburg District includes the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford in the Fredericksburg area; Northumberland, Richmond, Lancaster and Westmoreland counties in the Northern Neck; Essex, Gloucester, King & Queen, King William, Mathews and Middlesex counties in the Middle Peninsula.

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.