Power-line work to take another week

NEWPORT NEWS -- Work crews will need another week to complete the task of replacing power cables blown into the water near the James River Bridge last week.

The bridge's main channel was reopened to commercial and recreational traffic along the James River on Friday.

The power cables were ripped from their towers by hurricane-force 85-mph winds Wednesday night.

Chuck Penn, spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, said that of the six power lines that were blown into the water, two remain in the river. The two cables, both on the south side of the river near Isle of Wight County, are "embedded in the surface of the channel" and are being retrieved by dive teams.

Penn said all cables are expected to be out of the water by today, and he said Dominion Virginia Power expects all of the new cables to be in place by Monday.

The boat pier at Huntington Park in Newport News remains closed to the public, as the pier is being used as the staging area for the helicopter that is flying parts and workers out to the sections of the bridge under repair.