Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel - A Tunnel Under the Ocean in Virginia

In June of 2007 I had an experience that I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams. Born and raised in Kansas where the golden wheat blows in the wind, you are a little far from the ocean. I had the opportunity of visiting Virginia for 3 weeks and drove under the ocean, yes that's right, right under the ocean!

In Hampton Roads there is a road that just disappears under the water. It's on Interstate 64 that you drive out on a bridge then just disappear under the water, and then you come back up on a bridge to land. I had heard about this from my parents that live up in the area and just couldn't imagine this.

This tunnel called the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel connects the City of Norfolk to the City of Hampton and is 3.5 miles long. It gives you a very weird feeling knowing that tons of water is above your head. You would think the weight of the water would cause the tunnel to collapse. The bridge-tunnel is made up of bridge trestles, manmade islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor.

I found out that many people think the tunnel is right in the water but it's not. The tunnel is deep within the ground under the water. They say the tunnel has to this day never touched the water. The tunnel is maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The bridge-tunnel is two 12 foot-wide lanes going each way on separately built structures. The first tunnel opened November 1, 1957 and the second opened in May of 1976. The first tunnel allowed cars to travel both ways within the same tunnel but now the first tunnel carries westbound cars and the second tunnel carries the eastbound cars.

When the bridge-tunnel opened it was tolled but the toll was lifted when the second bridge-tunnel was opened.

The two tunnels are 7,479 feet long and the road is 108 feet below sea level at the lowest point. The bridges that you are driving on before you enter the tunnel are 17.5 feet above high tide sea level. On one side of the tunnel the bridge is 3,250 feet long and on the other side of the tunnel the bridge is 6,150 feet long.

As you are driving along, one minute you are looking at the ocean, Navy ships, cargo ships, battle ships, then it gets dark; you're in the tunnel going down and down. It's just the strangest feeling that's hard to describe. Here you are under all this water and up above you could be huge battle ships crossing over your head!

The tunnels were built by the sunken tube method where prefabricated tunnels each about 300 feet long, were placed by barges and joined together in a trench that was made in the bottom of the harbor, then was back filled over with earth. So not only do you have tons of water over your head but you have tons of earth too!

As you are driving through the tunnel there are traffic controlled signals and video monitoring cameras. Cars are monitored for speed and you can not pass. If you speed or pass the cameras will pick it up and you will be stopped later after you are out of the tunnel and off the bridge.

If there happens to be a wreck within the tunnel you are just stuck there till it's cleaned up. I heard that people could be there for hours, lucky for us there were no wrecks. Along both sides of the tunnel there are walkways for workers, rescue unites, etc.

There is fresh air constantly pumped into the tunnel by ventilation fans and is constantly monitored.

At the opening of each tunnel there are huge steel doors that are closed when a hurricane approaches so the tunnel doesn't fill up with water.

The people that take these tunnels everyday of their lives don't even think about it or even wonder about them. We happened to take a boat tour that took us right over the tunnel and the college student that directed the tour was very knowledgeable and told us all the information about the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

For the people that are from the east coast, tunnels like these are an everyday occurrence but for people like me that have never lived by the ocean this was an experience that I will never forget!

If you view the pictures, I'm sorry there were so many bugs on our windshield but you can still get a good idea of the tunnel. I have also come across a map that will show you exactly where the tunnel is under the water.