HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Mary, the tunnel boring machine for the new Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, completed the first new tunnel at the HRBT’s North Island Wednesday morning, a major milestone for the project.
WAVY was there as Mary broke through and the end of the tunnel came crashing down.
This is the first of the two new tunnels being constructed. The $3.9 billion HRBT Expansion Project is the largest highway construction project in Virginia history.
According to VDOT, Mary began from the South Island in April of 2023, creating the first of two tunnels for the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel expansion project through a process called boring, which enlarges a hole that has already been drilled with a circular cross-section through the soil.
Construction on the expansion started back in November of 2020, with Mary being implemented in 2022 with a price tag of $70 million.
This milestone comes just under three weeks after VDOT announced the expansion project is now 18-months behind schedule due to construction delays related to the complexity of the project, a VDOT spokesperson said.
Since Mary was put into the ground, it has dug through 7,900 feet, installing nearly 1,200 rings for the new tunnel. At its deepest point, Mary is about 173 feet below the water’s surface.
“Our crews were out here working 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” VDOT Project Director Ryan Banas said. “Hard work, honest work, doing an outstanding job. So an unbelievable amount of pride and joy in knowing that we’re making a mark on history. We’re making a mark on Hampton Roads history and around the world.”
This is the first bored tunnel in Virginia, and the third overall for the entire country.
Banas said teams worked a combined nine million hours to excavate the tunnel. Due to a tractor-trailer fire Wednesday morning, nearly everyone came to the historic milestone late after getting stuck in traffic for hours. VDOT leaders said it serves as a reminder for why this expansion is important.
VDOT states that the boring method will have fewer environmental impacts for the area, as it does not disrupt Navy, marine or commercial traffic.
In the coming weeks, they will start turning Mary around to begin her journey back to Norfolk, digging the second tunnel for the HRBT Expansion Project. This is expected to last five months.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.