Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT, officially the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge–Tunnel) is a bridge–tunnel that crosses the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay between Delmarva and Hampton Roads in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It opened in 1964, replacing ferries that had operated since the 1930s. A major project to dualize its bridges was completed in 1999, and in 2017 a similar project was started to dualize one of its tunnels.

With of bridges and two tunnels, the CBBT

The CBBT was built and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation. Its construction was financed by toll revenue bonds, while operating and maintenance expenses are recovered through tolls. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge–Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity".

The tunnel sections addressed concerns that a bridge failure across critical shipping lanes would block not only shipping but navy access.

A similarly named Chesapeake Bay Bridge crosses the Chesapeake Bay farther north in Maryland connecting Annapolis and Kent Island.

History

Geographic background

In December 1606, the Virginia Company of London sent an expedition to North America to establish a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from England, they reached the New World at the southern edge of the mouth of what is now known as the Chesapeake Bay. They named the two flanking Virginia points of land /capes like gateposts at the entrance to the long extensive estuary after the sons of their king, James I, the southern Cape Henry, for the eldest and presumed heir, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the northern Cape Charles, for his younger brother, Charles, Duke of York (the future King Charles I). A few weeks later they established their first permanent settlement on the southern, mainland, side of the bay, several miles upstream along the newly named James River at Jamestown on the northern shore on a close-in island for protection, the first permanent settlement in English North America.

Across the bay, the area north of Cape Charles was located along what became known later as the Delmarva Peninsula. As it bordered the Atlantic Ocean to its east, the region became known as Virginia and neighboring Maryland's Eastern Shore. As the entire colony grew, the bay was a formidable transportation obstacle for exchanges with the Virginia mainland on the Western Shore. One of the eight original shires of Virginia, Accomac Shire was established there in 1634, eventually becoming the two counties of modern times, Accomack County in the north and Northampton County to the south. In comparison to mainland regions, commerce and growth was limited by the need to cross the Bay. Consequently, little industrial base grew there, with the oceanfront peninsula staying predominantly rural with small towns and villages oriented towards life on the waters, and most residents made their living by farming and working as watermen, both on the bay (locally known as the "bay side") and in the Atlantic Ocean ("sea side").

Ferry system

For the first 350 years, ships and ferry systems provided the primary transportation.

From the early 1930s to 1954, the Virginia Ferry Corporation (VFC), a privately owned public service company managed a scheduled vehicular (car, bus, truck) and passenger ferry service between the Virginia Eastern Shore and Princess Anne County (now part of the City of Virginia Beach) on the mainland Western Shore in the South Hampton Roads area. This system, connecting portions of US 13, was known as the Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry. In 1951, the northern terminus in Delmarva was relocated to a location now within Kiptopeke State Park.

Despite an expanded fleet of large and modern ships by the VFC in the 1940s and early 1950s which were eventually capable of as many as 90 one-way trips each day, the crossing suffered delays due to heavy traffic and inclement weather.

In 1954, the Virginia General Assembly created a political subdivision, the Chesapeake Bay Ferry District and its governing body, the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Commission. The commission was authorized to acquire the private ferry corporation through bond financing, to improve the existing VFC ferry service.

When the CBBT opened, much of the ferry equipment and vessels used by the Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry VFC service was sold and moved north to be redeployed to start the Cape May–Lewes Ferry across the mouth of the Delaware Bay between Cape May, New Jersey and Lewes, Delaware. It still serves transit needs, but the number of pleasure trip passengers increased as the coastal beach resorts developed and grew crowded with vacationers in the next decades, partly due to the improved swifter transportation with highway, bridge, and tunnel access in the region of three states.

Studying a fixed crossing

thumb|Aerial view of the Virginia Beach entrance to the bridge, facing east

In 1956, the General Assembly authorized the Ferry Commission to conduct feasibility studies for the construction of a fixed crossing. The conclusion of the study indicated that a vehicular crossing was feasible.

To address these concerns, the engineers recommended a series of bridges and tunnels known as a bridge–tunnel, similar in design to the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, which had been completed in 1957, but on a considerably longer and larger facility. The tunnel portions, anchored by four artificial islands of approximately each, would be extended under the two main shipping channels. The CBBT was designed by the engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel of St. Louis, Missouri. By August 2022, the second tunnel at Thimble Shoal had been delayed to 2027. As of 2025, now the project has been delayed to 2028.

Tunnel length: approximately
Tunnel diameter:
Inner diameter:
Outer diameter:
Construction cost: $755,987,318
Construction method: Bored tunnel
Construction start (estimate): October 1, 2017
Construction completion (estimate): 2023
Maximum tunnel depth
Crown—at its deepest location (mid-channel): below the water surface
Invert—from the top of the roadway at its deepest location: below the surface
Soil removal: the approximate amount of soil to be removed by the tunnel boring machine (TBM) is .
Concrete sections: The tunnel will consist of approximately 9,000 individual concrete pieces. Approximately of concrete will be needed to make the tunnel sections.

Chesapeake Channel Tunnel dualization (projected 2035–2040)

At the northern end, a parallel Chesapeake Channel Tunnel will be added to finish the entire length to become a four-lane highway from shore to shore. This project is marked to begin in 2035, which would possibly be open for traffic in 2040, assuming there are no setbacks or delays.

In 2021, the United States Department of Transportation loaned $338.6 million to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel District through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, with funds provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The loan would help pay for the construction of both parallel tunnels.

Operations, maintenance, and regulations

thumb|upright=0.75|One of the artificial islands making up part of the bridge–tunnel complex, seen from the air

Toll collection facilities are located at both ends of the facility. Tolls are paid in each direction. As of 2024, the toll for cars (without trailers) traveling along the CBBT is $16 for off-peak or $21 for peak times (Friday through Sunday from May 15 to September 15). Should a car make a return trip within 24 hours of the first, the second trip across costs $6/$1 for off peak/peak season, but only with an EZ-Pass; cash or card payers must pay full fare. Motorcycles pay the same toll as cars without trailers. All other vehicles are charged based on size and purpose and are not subject to the return-trip discount. All tolls must be paid either in cash, debit/credit card, by scrip tickets issued by the CBBT, or via E-ZPass electronic toll collection. The bridge–tunnel began accepting Smart Tag/E-ZPass payments on November 1, 2007.

All toll lanes including E-ZPass-only lanes are gated for safety concerns and to turn around inadmissible vehicles. For example:

Strong winds have blown over certain vehicles.
Hazardous materials and compressed gas require various restrictions and inspections to safeguard the tunnels.
Both tunnels have a height limit of . An over-height truck in April 2007 severely damaged the tunnels. Repairs took three weeks.

It is mandatory that the bridge be checked and serviced every five years. Since servicing the bridge takes about five years, the process is a continuous cycle.

The CBBT is the only automobile transportation facility in Virginia with its police department. By original charter from the state, it has authority to enforce the laws of Virginia. Emergency call boxes are spaced at half-mile (0.8 km) intervals.

On the Delmarva peninsula to the north of the bridge, travelers may visit nearby Kiptopeke State Park, Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge, Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge (closed to the public), Assateague Island National Seashore, NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, campgrounds and other vacation destinations. To the south are tourist destinations around Virginia Beach, including First Landing State Park, Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia Beach Maritime Historical Museum, Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum, and the Virginia Aquarium and Maritime Science Center. The building will be demolished and not replaced, and the pier will reopen to the public at the end of the project in 2027.

Dimensions

Among the key features of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel are two tunnels beneath the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels and two pairs of side-by-side high-level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge ( clearance) and Fisherman Inlet Bridge ( clearance). The remaining portion comprises of low-level trestle, of causeway, and four artificial islands.

The CBBT is long from shore to shore, crossing what is essentially an ocean strait. Including land-approach highways, the overall facility is long ( from toll plaza to toll plaza)

Incidents

The CBBT has been closed three times for multiple days after being struck by watercraft:

In December 1967, coal barge Mohawk broke anchor and struck the bridge, closing it for two weeks for repairs.
On January 21, 1970, the USS Yancey (AKA-93), a United States Navy attack cargo ship carrying 250 people,
In 1972, the bridge was again impacted by a barge that had broken loose, closing it for two weeks while the span was repaired.

, there have been 19 incidents of vehicles running off the bridge and into the water. In 2017, a truck plowed through the barriers into the sea below; the driver was rescued but died en route to the hospital. In December 2020, a dairy truck crashed through the guardrail near mile 14. Witnesses saw the driver drifting in the water—estimated to be about —but were unable to rescue him. Despite an extensive search, he remained missing until April 2021, when his body washed up over south at Cape Hatteras National Seashore between Salvo and Avon.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

information from Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau
Virginian-Pilot newspaper commentary on long-time CBBT Chairman Lucius J. Kellam Jr. at the time of his death in 1995
Fisherman's Island National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
General Assembly JLARC study of the CBBT in 2002