Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam joined state and local leaders Thursday to break ground on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) Expansion Project – the largest project in the state’s history.
The Expansion project would increase tunnel and interstate capacity along nearly 10 miles of Interstate 64 between Hampton and Norfolk to reduce congestion and ease access to the Port of Virginia and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest Naval base.
“For too long, traffic in the Hampton Roads region has bottlenecked at the tunnel,” Gov. Ralph Northam said. “Folks in this region deserve an easier, more reliable commute. This is the largest project in our history, and it will ensure that people can move around faster, that commerce flows more easily, and that we finally connect the Peninsula and the Southside. This project will make everyone’s lives easier when it is completed.”
The $3.8 billion project will employ crews using a highly-specialized tunnel boring machine to dig through soil and construct tunnel segments simultaneously. The machine technology has been used to construct highly complex projects like Manhattan’s Second Avenue Subway. The HRBT will be only the fourth American roadway project to use the equipment, which is currently under construction in Germany and is expected to arrive in Virginia in 2021 for assembly. Tunneling operations are expected to begin in early 2022.
“The world’s best designers, builders, engineers, and technology are converging here in Virginia to build your new tunnel,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. “We are bringing every asset to the table to give people what they may value most—time.”