Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name= Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
|image= Cbbt_bridges_at_north_end.jpg
|caption= Aerial view of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel looking south from Cape Charles, Virginia. Photo courtesy Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Commission
|official_name= Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel
|also_known_as=
|carries= 4 lanes (4 on bridges, 2 in tunnels) of US 13
|crosses= Chesapeake Bay
|locale= Virginia Beach, Virginia to Cape Charles, Virginia
|maint=Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission
|id=
|design= Composite: Low-level Trestle, Single-tube Tunnels, Manmade islands, Truss bridges, High-level Trestle
|mainspan=
|length= 23 miles (37 km)
|width=
|clearance=
|below= 75 feet (North Channel)
40 feet (Fisherman Inlet)
|traffic=
|open= April 15, 1964 (northbound)
April 19, 1999 (southbound)
|closed=
|toll= Cars $12 (both directions, round trip discount available)
|map_cue=
|map_image=
|map_text=
|map_width=
|coordinates=
|lat= 37.029966
|long= -76.085815
}}
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23 mile (37 km) long facility that connects the Delmarva Peninsula with southeastern Virginia in the United States. It crosses the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and connects the independent city of Virginia Beach to Cape Charles in Northampton County.
The bridge-tunnel uses a combination of bridges and tunnels over two widely separated shipping channels, using four man-made islands built in the bay as portals. The CBBT complex carries U.S. Highway 13, the main north-south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the east coast's longstanding Ocean Hiway, provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link New York and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas.
Financed by toll revenue bonds, it was opened on April 15, 1964. The bridge-tunnel was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel in August 1987 after one of the civic leaders who had long worked for its development and operation. However, it continues to be best known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
In 1995, at a cost of almost US$200 million, work began to increase the capacity of the above-water portion on trestles and bridges to four lanes. An even more costly proposition, the two-lane tunnels were not upgraded at that time.
Contents |
Ferry system
From the early 1930s to 1954, Virginia Ferry Corporation, a privately-owned public service company managed scheduled vehicular (car, bus, truck) and passenger ferry service between the Virginia Eastern Shore and the Hampton Roads area which was known as the Little Creek Ferry.
Despite operating a fleet of large and modern ships, the service offered by the ferry system was considered inadequate by many users. The trips took a long time, and there were often delays due to heavy traffic and inclement weather.
In 1954, the Virginia General Assembly (state legislature) created 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 ferry service.
Studying and building a fixed crossing
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 and recommended a series of bridges and tunnels. The Bridge-Tunnel was designed by the engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel of St. Louis, Missouri, who also served as the construction manager for the project.
In the summer of 1960, the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Commission sold $200 million in toll revenue bonds to private investors, and the proceeds were used to finance the construction of the Bridge-Tunnel. Funds collected by future tolls were pledged to pay the principal and interest on the bonds. No local, state or federal tax funds were used in the construction of the project.
Construction contracts were awarded to a consortium of Tidewater Construction Corporation and Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corporation. The steel superstructure for the high-level bridges near the north end of the crossing were fabricated by the American Bridge Division of United States Steel Corporation. Construction of the Bridge-Tunnel began in October 1960 after six months were spent assembling the needed equipment from throughout the world.
The construction was accomplished under the severe conditions imposed by nor'easters, hurricanes, and the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean. During the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, much of the work partially completed and a major piece of custom-built construction equipment called "The Big D" were destroyed. Seven workers were killed at various times during the construction. In April 1964, 42 months after construction began, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opened to traffic, and the ferry service was discontinued.
Additional trestles and lanes added
At a cost of $197 million, new parallel two-lane trestles were built both to alleviate traffic and for safety reasons, opening on April 19, 1999. This increased the capacity of the above-water portion of the facility to four lanes, facilitated needed repairs, and helped insure against a total closure should a trestle be struck by a ship or otherwise damaged (which had occurred twice in the past).
While there has been planning work done to expand tunnel capacities as well, the facility currently continues to utilize only the original two-lane tunnels.
CBBT and Lucius J. Kellam Jr
The Ferry Commission and transportation district it oversees, created in 1954, were later renamed for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The CBBT district is a public agency and it is a legal subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. However, the Bridge-Tunnel is supported financially by the tolls collected from the motorists who use the facility.
Eastern Shore native, businessman, and civic leader Lucius J. Kellam Jr. was the original Commission's first chairman. In a commentary at the time of his death in 1995, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper (Norfolk) recalled that Kellam had been involved in bringing the multi-million-dollar bridge-tunnel project from dream to reality.
Before it was built, Kellam handled a political fight over the location, and addressed concerns of the U.S. Navy about prospective hazards to navigation to and from the Norfolk Navy Base at Sewell's Point.
Kellam was also directly involved in the negotiations to finance the ambitious crossing with bonds. According to the newspaper article, "there were not-unfounded fears that (1) storm-driven seas and drifting or off-course vessels could damage, if not destroy, the span and (2) traffic might not be sufficient to service the entire debt in an orderly way. Sure enough, bridge portions of the crossing have occasionally been damaged by vessels, and there was a long period when holders of the riskiest bonds received no interest on their investment."
An icon of Eastern Virginia politics, Kellam remained chairman and champion of the CBBT throughout the hard times, and the bondholders were eventually paid as toll revenues caught up with expenses. He continued to serve until he was over 80 years old, finally retiring in 1993. He had held the post for 39 years.
The facility was named in his honor in 1987, over 20 years after it was first opened to traffic.
One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World
Following the CBBT's opening in 1964, it was selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as "One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" in a worldwide competition that included more than one hundred major projects.
The individual components of the Bridge-Tunnel are not the longest or the largest ever built. However, the total project was unique in the number of different types of major structures included in one crossing and the fact that it was built under adverse conditions.
Facts and figures
The CBBT is 17.6 miles (28.3 km) long from shore to shore, crossing what is essentially an ocean strait. Including land-approach highways, the overall facility is 23 miles (37 km) long.
Key features are two one-mile tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels and two high-level bridges (75 ft; 23 m) over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge. The remaining portion is comprised of 12 miles (19 km) of low-level trestle, two miles of causeway, and four man-made islands.
Man-made islands, each approximately 5.25 acres (21,000 m²) in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. Between North Channel and Fisherman Inlet, the facility crosses at-grade over Fisherman Island, a barrier island which includes the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Bridge-Tunnel's concrete supporting columns are called piles. If placed end to end, the piles alone could reach from New York to Philadelphia.
Toll collection facilities are located at each end of the facility. Tolls are paid in each direction, before crossing. As of 2006, the toll for cars (without trailers) traveling along the CBBT is $12. However, should a car make a return trip within 24 hours of the first, the second trip across only costs $5. 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 or by scrip tickets issued by the CBBT; there are no facilities for electronic toll collection. The CBBT stands as the most expensive toll crossing in the United States.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (152 km) and 1 1/2 hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and New York. The $12 toll is partially offset by some savings of tolls in Maryland and Delaware on I-95.
A restaurant, gift shop, and fishing pier are located on the southernmost of the four man-made islands.
Since it opened, more than 67 million vehicles have crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
See also
External links
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel official website
- Roads to the Future website
- 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
{{Crossings navbox |structure = Bridges |place = Chesapeake Bay |bridge = Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel |bridge signs = Image:US 13.svg |upstream = Chesapeake Bay Bridge |upstream signs = Image:US 50.svg Image:US 301.svg |downstream = Atlantic Ocean |downstream signs = }}
