PETERSBURG, Va. -- Looks can be deceiving when judging the Interstate 95 overpass at Crater Road in Petersburg.
To put it simply, the bridge looks rough.
"I think the bridge is pretty old," Bikia Claiborne said. "It needs some construction done to it."
The problem? Visible cracks, reinforcement bars visible through crevices, and orange spray paint highlighting problem areas.
But between the steel beams are recently installed wooden cross arms holding up plywood to the bottom of the road surface above.
"There's been some concrete cracking in the area and we just installed this Debris Shield as a precautionary measure until we can make a permanent repair," VDOT spokesperson Bethanie Glover explained.
Glover said that the bridge's aesthetics don't mean that it's unsafe.
"The structural integrity of the bridge and the safety of the bridge hasn't been impacted by these minor cracks," she said. "Right now it's on a year inspection basis."
An estimated 51,000 vehicles travel across the I-95 bridge every day while about 21,000 cars pass underneath on Crater Road every day.
