The following 26 photos show various aerial views of the Springfield Interchange Improvement Project construction.

These photos were taken on December 21, 2005 by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and are posted here with their permission. Roads to the Future utilized PhotoDeluxe Business Edition to sharpen and brighten all of the photos. Click on the photo to get a large version of the photo. In later versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer, you probably will need to use Full Screen mode (the F11 key can be utilized to swap back and forth between Full Screen and Regular) to see the full size of the large photo without browser-induced image shrinkage. The large photos have sizes ranging from 220 to 343 kilobytes, with most of them being under 265 kilobytes. With a broadband or network Internet connection, each photo will download within seconds, but with a dial-up Internet connection it will be slower. The photos are in sequence as taken from a helicopter as it made a couple loops around the interchange area.

	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast. The Beltway (I-95/I-495 and I-495) runs left-right, and Shirley Highway (I-95 and I-395) runs upper-center to lower-right. The long elevated bridge is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south, and immediately to the right of that, the construction can be seen for the 2-lane flyover ramp from I-95 north to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge). The smaller elevated ramp that runs from left to right, connects I-395 to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge), and this ramp opened to traffic on October 2, 2005.
	This is a zoom-in excerpt from the previous photo, to show the construction activities on the I-95 northbound flyover ramp. Large image (size 850 kilobytes) It can be seen in detail that the last about 500 feet of bridge deck concrete pouring is nearing completion, with 3 screed machines on the bridge and 3 concrete pumps (the red boom-like devices) in operation that are receiving concrete from ready-mix trucks. All of the asphalt paving on the ground-level approaches is complete. After finishing that about 500 feet of bridge deck and about 1,000 feet of bridge parapet, the ramp should be ready for opening to traffic, which will likely occur in January.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north. The long elevated bridge is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south, and immediately to the right of that, the construction can be seen for the 2-lane flyover ramp from I-95 north to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge).
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northwest.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west along the Beltway toward Tysons Corner. The long elevated bridge is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south. The smaller elevated ramp that runs from right to left, connects I-395 to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge), and this ramp opened to traffic on October 2, 2005. The elevated bridge under construction in the upper left of the photo, is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from I-95 northbound to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge).
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west toward Tysons Corner. The long elevated bridge is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south. The elevated bridge under construction immediately to the left of the opened flyover, is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from I-95 northbound to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge). This new ramp has an excellent likelihood of being opened to traffic by the end of January 2006.
	This is a zoom-in excerpt from the previous photo, to show the construction activities on the I-95 northbound flyover ramp. Large image (size 841 kilobytes) It can be seen in detail that the last about 500 feet of bridge deck concrete pouring is nearing completion, with 3 screed machines on the bridge and 3 concrete pumps (the red boom-like devices) in operation that are receiving concrete from ready-mix trucks. All of the asphalt paving on the ground-level approaches is complete. After finishing that about 500 feet of bridge deck and about 1,000 feet of bridge parapet, the ramp should be ready for opening to traffic, which will likely occur in January.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking southwest. The Beltway runs lower left to upper right, and Shirley Highway runs left to right.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking south toward Richmond. The Beltway runs left-right, and Shirley Highway runs up-down. Shirley Highway (I-95 south of the Beltway and I-395 north of the Beltway) has 3 mainline lanes each way and a 2-lane reversible roadway for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) traffic, and the reversible roadway is between the two general purpose roadways. The I-95/VA-644 interchange is in the distance.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast. The Beltway runs lower-left to upper right, and Shirley Highway runs upper left to lower right. The Beltway Outer Loop was realigned and raised onto a long bridge, to accommodate ramps to be built. The long elevated bridge (to the right) is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south. The one-lane flyover ramp from I-395 to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge) is complete, and can be seen in the center of the photo.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking northeast.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north along Shirley Highway toward Washington. The Beltway runs left-right. This photo was taken from approximately over the I-95/VA-644 interchange. The long elevated bridge in the distance is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south, and immediately to the right of that, the construction can be seen for the 2-lane flyover ramp from I-95 north to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge). The overpass bridge in the foreground is Commerce Street. The SIIP Project included the replacement of the 2-lane Commerce Street viaduct over I-95, with a modern 4-lane divided bridge with sidewalks on either side for pedestrians and bicycles.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north. The Beltway runs left-right, and Shirley Highway runs lower left to upper right. The long elevated bridge in the distance is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south, and immediately to the right of that, the construction can be seen for the 2-lane flyover ramp from I-95 north to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge). The one-lane flyover ramp from I-395 to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge) can be seen in the upper center of the photo.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking north.
	I-95/I-395/I-495 interchange construction, looking west along the Beltway toward Tysons Corner. The long elevated bridge is the 2-lane express flyover ramp from the Beltway Inner Loop (from Wilson Bridge) to I-95 south, and immediately to the left of that, the construction can be seen for the 2-lane flyover ramp from I-95 north to the Beltway Outer Loop (to Wilson Bridge).

Copyright © 2006 by Scott Kozel. All rights reserved. Reproduction, reuse, or distribution without permission is prohibited.