Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Breakthrough

The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion is the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history. On April 17th, the tunnel boring machine, Mary, completed the first new tunnel boring project.

This transformative undertaking will widen the current four-lane segments along nearly ten miles of the I-64 corridor in Norfolk and Hampton, with new twin tunnels across the harbor. The expansion will increase capacity, ease major congestion, and enhance travel time reliability. Including the construction contract and owner’s costs, the project’s total budget is over $3.8 billion, making it one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country.

 The TBM broke through the headwall on the North Island, completing Virginia’s first bored roadway tunnel and only the third in the U.S. What a momentous day for the project and for the region! We were there for the breakthrough providing photos for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

The HRBT Expansion Project held the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Naming Contest in the fall of 2020. The contest was open to middle school students in Hampton Roads. First place winner of the contest was Saint Gregory the Great Catholic High School in Virginia Beach with the name, “Mary the TBM” in honor of Mary Jackson of Hampton, VA – mathematician and aerospace engineer at NASA, noted for her pioneering role of an African American woman in the field of science and engineering, and her crucial contributions to the NASA Space Program. The winning name, “Mary the TBM”, is printed on the TBM.

The construction workers and media were lined up around the receiving pit to witness this special event.

The TBM will be taken apart and turned around to bore the second tunnel in the opposite direction. That process should take about 5 months.