
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060190
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PEMBROKE                                LENGTH: Short

PEMBROKE'S NEW BRIDGE COMING SOON

Construction of a new Virginia 623 bridge over the New River could begin in the spring of 1994, the Virginia Department of Transportation has announced.

The location and the design of the $3.5 million bridge were given approval by the Commonwealth Transportation Board in July.

The bridge will have two 10-foot lanes and 6-foot shoulders.

The project to build a new bridge had been delayed while the Virginia Department of Historic Resources deliberated whether to preserve the existing Virginia 623 bridge as one of the few remaining steel-span bridges in the Old Dominion.

No one spoke against the new bridge at a public hearing in Pembroke in June, so the plans moved ahead without further delays.

So far, no historic preservation group - state or otherwise - has shown an interest in accepting ownership of the old bridge, the status of which is not directly related to the planned new structure.

The two bridges will be side by side.

by CNB