Crews continue work on the Stafford County side of the Chatham Bridge construction project on Nov. 16, 2020.
MORE steel beams were delivered to the Chatham Bridge on Friday morning as crews continued work on the span, which has been closed since June 2020.
Those are among the last beams to be delivered for the span over the Rappahannock River.
The final beam is scheduled to be set by the end of this week, local Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Darragh Frye said.
The project is scheduled to be completed in October.
Crews continue work on the Chatham Bridge expansion project. The new span over the Rappahannock River connecting Fredericksburg and Stafford County is expected to be finished in October.
Meanwhile, work will soon start on another area bridge project.
The Stafford County Truslow Road overpass opened on Friday, which started the clock for work to begin on the American Legion bridge in the county. Both projects are part of the Interstate 95 express lanes extension.
The Truslow Road bridge closed for replacement in January 2020. The project took longer than expected, with weather delays being one factor.
Frye said no date has been set for work to start on the American Legion bridge.
She said VDOT and express lanes operator Transurban are working out the schedule. A notice will be sent out at least two weeks before the bridge is closed.
Did virtual distractions cause 2020 crash spike?
Do we have an answer to the quirky crash data in 2020, a year when traffic plummeted across the U.S. because of the pandemic but deadly crashes still increased?
Last week, Root Insurance released analysis of more than 6.1 billion miles covered by drivers who completed the company’s test drive, and it showed that “the average American driver used their phone once every 5.5 miles in 2020 [or 18 times every 100 miles].”
There’s a kicker.
Root added that its survey of 1,819 drivers found that 54 percent of “Americans who drive after video chatting report trouble concentrating. When work life became synonymous with home life, COVID-19 created new distractions and challenges for American drivers getting behind the wheel of a car.”
The analysis also indicates that more drivers are checking their phones than two years ago, despite more intense laws against distracted driving. This year, for example, Virginia made it illegal for drivers to hold cellphones.
According to Root, 58 percent of drivers admitted to checking their phones in 2019. In 2020, that figure spiked to 66 percent.
So far in 2021, that figure stands at 64 percent.
Maybe that drop in phone checking means the trend is working its way back down.
In a news release, Root founder and CEO Alex Timm warned drivers to be wary of mixing tech with driving.
“Many Americans have honed their use of technology and their ability to multitask during the pandemic but living room skills do not translate behind the wheel,” Timm said. “As drivers return to the road, they should recognize the dangers of false confidence to protect themselves and their passengers.”
Scott Shenk: 540/374-5436
April 12, 2021 at 01:00AM
https://ift.tt/3tdrEfc
GETTING THERE: Progress being made on Fredericksburg area bridge work - Fredericksburg.com
https://ift.tt/2VuKK1x
Work
No comments:
Post a Comment