The transformative Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) expansion project reached a major milestone last week, as TBM Mary made her final breakthrough of the second tunnel.
The HRBT Expansion is the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history. It aims to ease congestion along a 16km corridor of Interstate 64 by widening the current four-lane configuration through two free general-purpose lanes, a full-time express lane and a part-time shoulder express lane in each direction.
Mary was launched in April 2023 and tunneled at a rate of 50 feet per day approximately 50 feet below the existing tunnels. She broke through the first 7940-foot tunnel on the North Island in April 2024.
The $70 million, 430-foot TBM was manufactured in Germany by Herrenknecht. She was assembled on the HRBT’s South Island in a 65-foot pit over a period of six months.
Once completed in 2027, this $3.9B infrastructure project will further enhance the fluidity of freight moving in-and-out of America’s Most Modern Gateway.
Do you have news for the international trenchless industry? Contact journalist Gerald Lynch at gerald.lynch@primecreative.com.au
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