George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge
bridge across York River in Virginia
The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (known locally as simply the Coleman Bridge) is a double swing bridge that spans the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester Point, in the United States state of Virginia. It connects the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula regions of Tidewater, Virginia. The bridge is the only public crossing of the York River, though State Route 33 crosses both of its tributaries (the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers) just upriver of their confluence at West Point.
History
Originally built in 1952, it was reconstructed and widened in 1995 through an unusual process which greatly reduced the time the important commuter artery was out-of-service from conventional methods. The current 3,750-foot (1,140 m)-long double-swing-span bridge carries United States Route 17, a four-lane arterial highway. The movable span is needed to allow ship access to several military installations that are upstream of the bridge, most notably, the United States Navy's Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The roadways are almost 90 feet (27 m) above the river at the highest point of the bridge. The bridge is the largest double-swing-span bridge in the United States, and second largest in the world.
The bridge was named for George P. Coleman, who from 1913 to 1922 was the head of the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation, predecessor to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The bridge has been one of the sites of a special program to establish and encourage nesting locations for the peregrine falcon population of Virginia.
The public source identifies “George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge” as bridge across York River in Virginia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around George, Coleman and Memorial.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge”, the useful work is to connect “bridge across York River in Virginia” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q16864797. VIAF identifies the subject as 315170953. Authority coordinates are 37.243, -76.507. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1952, 1995, 1913 and 1922.
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This entry incorporates text from “George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.