CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Today, crews are breaking ground on the Deep Creek Bridge Replacement project.
The current single-leaf bridge is 20 feet wide and has just one lane in each direction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers described the bridge as “functionally obsolete.”
The project will transform the single-leaf bridge into a dual-leaf drawbridge with five lanes. The drawbridge will be 144 feet long and 60 feet wide.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the multi-year project will cost nearly $60 million.
News 3 previously spoke with residents who said the current 90-year-old bridge makes commuting difficult.
"It's long overdue. I was a teacher at Deep Creek High School for 44 years. People were complaining about it then and they're still complaining about it," said former City Councilman Dwight Parker. "It's a bottleneck."
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Chesapeake to commemorate the start of construction.
We are following the replacement project closely. Stay with News 3 for updates.
