George P. Coleman Bridge

Completed in 1952, the George P. Coleman Bridge is 3,750 feet long and replaced a ferry system that operated here for more than 200 years. The bridge was widened and reconstructed in 1995, and its prefabricated superstructure, built in six sections, was barged from Norfolk to this location and set in place in ten days. It is one of two double-swing-span bridges in the world and the only one in the United States. Two 500-foot spans swing clockwise, allowing large vessels to follow the York River’s natural channel. George Preston Coleman, a native Virginian and former mayor of Williamsburg, served as Virginia’s highway commissioner from 1913 to 1922.

Yorktown, Virginia · United States