I’m leaving the Tar Heel state and on to the mid-Atlantic states beginning with Virginia.
For 55 miles, I cross many creek and rivers: Fountaine Creek, Meherrin River, Three Creek, Uriah Branch, Otterdam Swamp (which looks like a creek), Nottoway River, Stoney Creek and Second Swamp.
I don’t know what distinguishes a river from a creek from a swamp because they look the same to me – at least on my computer. The crossings appear to short, flat bridges. Then just north of Petersburg I encounter the widest river so far in Virginia. The Appomatox River looks wider but the bridge looks like I can easily cross it.
Next, I cross Swift Creek and Kingsland Creek, and then I begin to parallel the James River.
And just a short way and still south of Richmond is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. This is a high bridge with a 145 feet of clearance. For comparison, the Throgs Neck bridge in NYC, which I’m very familiar with, has 142 feet of clearance. To me, that’s high.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, Virginia By Awawwa (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
A few more miles and I cross the James River. I believe this bridge to be flat and crossable.
For some reason, it’s been challenging to track down bridge photos for Virginia to confirm what the structures look like and their heights. But because of this, I’m comfortable saying there’s likely nothing remarkable about the bridge structures – such as they are super high or long. So I’m calling them crossable but I may not like it. If you know about these bridges, please leave a comment.
I cross more creeks and rivers, and then a longer crossing over the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.
With most of the 285- mile drive in Virginia complete, I’m approaching one of the busiest interchanges in the United States just outside Washington, DC and one last bridge. Before it was reworked, it was called The Mixing Bowl.
Gephyrophobiac 