How important are the arches of Richmond's historic Mayo Bridge?
City officials are reviewing various options for the bridge that range from rehabilitating the 1913 structure and its arches to replacing them with a wider span and either concrete girders or new concrete arches.
The potential costs would be $21.6 million for rehabilitation of the 60-foot-wide bridge, to as much as $38.4 million for a 73-foot-wide replacement bridge with concrete arches, according to preliminary estimates prepared by consultants as part of a $1 million federally funded study.
The widened bridge also would include bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks.
The four-lane Mayo Bridge links 14th Street in downtown Richmond to Hull Street in Manchester and provides access to Mayo Island.
The span is one of the oldest crossings of the James River, and it has been compared architecturally to the Pont Neuf, a bridge over the Seine River in Paris.
The Mayo Bridge Structural Analysis and Feasibility Study is expected to conclude in October. Officials are now identifying and refining estimates for a preferred option for improvements that would address the bridge, as well as the nearby Manchester Canal Bridge, which dates to 1911.
Both bridges are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as contributing structures of the Manchester Industrial Historic District. The Mayo Bridge, also known as the 14th Street Bridge, was initially built in 1785 and named for the family that constructed it.
Bridges traditionally haven't been a focus of local historic-preservation groups, but that may need to change in light of plans for the Mayo Bridge and the work that's under way to replace the Huguenot Bridge, said Mary Jane Hogue, executive director of the Historic Richmond Foundation.
With the bridge project still unfunded, Hogue suggested a closer look at whether the facility could be rehabbed and made safe for another century of use.
"Richmond is so much more fortunate than many cities in melding the new with the old," she said. "I just believe we have so much architectural integrity.
"Once you tear them down, you'll never get them back."
Mayo Bridge options
Rehabilitate and strengthen arches, add overlooks
Construction cost: $21.6 million
Life-cycle cost: $35.7 million
Width: 60 feet
Details: two sidewalks, share road
Replace superstructure with concrete arches, add overlooks
Construction cost: $31.1 million
Life-cycle cost: $38.9 million
Width: 60 feet
Details: two sidewalks, shared road
Replace bridge with concrete arches
Construction cost: $38.4 million
Life-cycle cost: $43.0 million
Width: 73 feet
Details: bike lanes, wider sidewalks
Replace bridge with concrete girders
Construction cost: $26.6 million
Life-cycle cost: $29.1 million
Width: 73 feet
Details: bike lanes and wider sidewalks
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