CAPE CHARLES, Va. — Project leaders with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel reported that Chessie, the tunnel boring machine used to dig the second tunnel, had broken through at the second island.
However, when they made this announcement on social media, a lot of locals flooded their comment section with questions. So News 3 took a few of them to Tom Anderson, the deputy executive director for Finance and Operations with the CBBT.
Watch related: 'Chessie' the boring machine back at work on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
We’ll start with two people, Addie and Jon, who had curiosities about the pier and restaurant on the CBBT.
Jon was wondering when the pier may reopen, whereas Addie simply just missed the restaurant. Well, good news and bad news. Apologies to Addie, but according to Anderson, there are no plans to bring the restaurant back. However, when it comes to the pier…
“When the project’s finished, the island closer to VB will be reopened to the public so people will be able to go out there like they used to. The fishing pier, the seagull pier will be reopened at the conclusion of the project,” Anderson said.
Watch: Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel Project at CBBT completion date set for 2027
Now to traveling the CBBT. One user wrote the following question:
“Will it be so all the lanes of traffic are going the same way? That would be my dream tunnel. It would feel much safer,” a user named Leya commented.
Because the CBBT has just one tunnel right now, north and southbound traffic run directly next to each other, making you feel a little uneasy once you move underground. That will soon change.
“The existing tunnel will be made to go all northbound and then this new tunnel will be the southbound lanes,” Anderson told News 3.
Lastly, the height of the tunnel. One user, Richard, wrote:
“I hope it will be higher than 13'6 so I don't worry about being turned around because the alert at the toll says I'm over height even though my trailer is legal.”
When News 3 asked Anderson about this, here’s what he had to say.
“Any type of vehicle should be able to travel through the new tunnel. Of course, the existing is still gonna have the same height restrictions as it does today at 13 foot 6 inches,” he said.
Watch previous coverage: Construction of new tunnel at CBBT now running about 4 years behind
News 3 also asked Anderson whether or not they’ve uncovered any cool historical artifacts while digging the tunnel. You may remember, during the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel digging, crews found cool things like bones of a Mastodon and Civil War Era cannonballs.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t occurred with the CBBT, just a centuries old anchor News 3 told you about back in 2023, that completely halted tunnel digging for a couple of months.
So to recap:
Even though Chessie has broken through to Two Island, Anderson says the project probably won’t be fully complete until late 2027, early 2028. The bright side? Because they are finished with the tunneling portion, there won’t be another 100 year old anchor causing a digging delay.
