This bridge was also affected by the 1993 tornado that destroyed half of the Historic District of Petersburg, a Wal-Mart in nearby Colonial Heights, and damaged portions of the city of Hopewell.

The design was selected because a high level was needed to clear a shipping channel, but there was a strong desire to avoid a drawbridge configuration following the collision of the SS Marine Floridian into the Benjamin Harrison Bridge at Jordan Point, a few miles downstream, in 1977.

In a major victory for the endangered species, and VDOT's environmental efforts, in the spring of 2003, nearly a dozen peregrine falcon chicks were hatched.

That spring, three eyases (falcon chicks) on the Benjamin Harrison Bridge on State Route 156 over the James River were banded with a transmitter for tracking purposes, and two were released at Shenandoah National Park.

Fish and Wildlife service, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Conservation Center, VDOT monitors the falcons on each bridge to ensure they and their habitat are doing well.

Because of the significant role it played in the recovery of the peregrine falcon in Virginia, VDOT earned the 1998 Federal Highway Administration Excellence Award in the category of Environment Protection and Enhancements.