The Virginia Department of Transportation is beginning the preliminary engineering work for replacing the Robert O. Norris Jr. Memorial Bridge. According to the Rappahannock Record the new state budget allocated $5 million for that work which has already started. Funding to replace the bridge was approved last year by the Commonwealth Transportation Board as part of the Special Structures 50-Year Long-Term Plan. DOT will continue to maintain the current span which was imspected earlier this year.