Rural bridge is model for Richmond Dam Walk

Richmond:

“A majestic pedestrian bridge that brushes through the treetops of Cumberland and Prince Edward counties offers a panoramic preview of the potential of a low-slung walkway above the James River torrents in downtown Richmond.

High Bridge and Brown’s Island are both steeped in Civil War history. The former railroad bridge was a strategic battleground near the end of the Civil War. Brown’s Island was the site of an 1863 explosion that killed at least 41 people, mostly women and children, at a Confederate munitions factory.

High Bridge towers 125 feet above the Appomattox River valley, spanning nearly half a mile. The original wooden bridge, built in 1853, was replaced in 1914 with a steel structure. Two years ago, it was renovated and widened to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and horses, and incorporated into a 31-mile multiuse trail that runs through Cumberland, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties.

The Brown’s Island Dam Walk, only about 17 feet above the James River, would create a 1,600-foot span for pedestrians and cyclists from Brown’s Island to Manchester, as part of a 20-mile cycling network. It would be built above a former Virginia Power dam that is disconnected from a popular footbridge extending about 60 yards from Brown’s Island.”

~Writes Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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