HRBT Expansion Project

Norfolk Drivers - I-64 west closure and detour at 4th View Street RESCHEDULED for Sunday, July 28, 2024 from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. for overhead sign installation. Motorists traveling on I-64 west will detour at exit 273 4th View Street. Follow posted detour signs and allow extra travel time when driving on I-64 west in Norfolk during the planned closure. For more information, https://conta.cc/46exott. UPDATE - due to forecasted weather conditions, the date of the closure has been updated to Sunday, July 28. * Construction schedules are subject to change due to weather or other circumstances

Beam me up! You may have wondered about the big blue machine you’ve seen as you drive through the HRBT. Learn more about the beam launcher and its role on the HRBT Expansion Project. This innovative piece of equipment allows crews to place girders in tight spaces, helping to build the new westbound North Trestle between the two existing bridges.

Mary The Tunnel Boring Machine's recent turnaround was no small task, and it sparked big questions from everyone following Mary's progress. We had a front row seat on June 25th to capture footage and do some digging into the engineering marvel. Join us in watching the transition and get answers from experts in the field on how the #HRBTExpansion Team got the 2500-ton job done. Virginia Department of Transportation Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP)

HERE A CHICK, THERE A CHICK, EVERYWHERE A CHICK-CHICK! The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and Virginia Tech's Shorebird Program staff banded about 3,000 baby chicks at Ft. Wool in Hampton on Saturday, July 6. The fuzzy little fledglings were born at Ft. Wool, the temporary home base for birds that were nudged from the HRBT Islands to make way for the #HRBTExpansion project. Numerous species call Ft. Wool or nearby barges home, including this tiny Royal Tern held by VDOT’s HRBT Environmental Manager Larissa Marie Ambrose. Fort Wool is closed to the public; however, Larissa was able to participate in a monitoring trip with the DWR team. By banding the feathery friends, the DWR and Virginia Tech can monitor where the birds go when they leave the Hampton Roads region in the fall and where they return to for nesting in the spring. Also shown, are baby brown pelicans and a snowy egret chick nesting in the same area, as well as a killdeer chick also spotted along the corridor. VDOT and its project partner HRCP go to great lengths to protect the birds when discovered in a work zone. #VDOT #VDOTHR #HRCP #tunneling 

Watch as Mary The Tunnel Boring Machine makes a seamless U-turn into place to begin her next boring journey. Learn more about the people and engineering behind such a smooth transition in next month's HRBT Expansion Project newsletter. Sign up to receive these updates and more at https://lnkd.in/gTCn4nem. Virginia Department of Transportation Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP)

Pre-historic animal bones? In the James River? 🤯 Learn about this and more in this month's On the Move, featuring Ryan Banas of the HRBT Expansion Project with the Virginia Department of Transportation! Watch the full video: https://lnkd.in/eaJyQYMA Subscribe to Hampton Roads Transit on YouTube to get notified when our next On the Move episode airs! #gohrt #trytransit #hrbt #hrbtexpansion #hamptonroadsva #norfolkva #hamptonva #onthemove #hrtisonthemove #vlog #videoseries

After powering her way through the harbor, Mary The Tunnel Boring Machine's cutterhead has taken center stage, fully emerged from the newly bored tunnel and into the receiving pit at North Island. This heavy lift was a job too big for a crane. Instead, our innovative engineering teams and dedicated crews used nitrogen tables to raise, slide, and turn the massive tool 180 degrees into launch position. Now facing Norfolk in anticipation of boring the expansion's second tunnel, Mary's shield waits to be reunited with her trailing gantries which remain, for now, in the tube.

From laying the groundwork for Mary's upcoming U-turn on North Island to tying steel rebar for the new tunnel's roadway dividing wall, both ends of the project are booming with activity. Check out the June 2024 project newsletter to see what Virginia Department of Transportation and Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP) have been up to this month. Visit https://lnkd.in/gTCn4nem for a recap of recent outreach with US Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District, Hampton Roads Chamber Board of Directors and others, a special Father's Day tribute, and progress photos from the trestles, tunnels, landside bridges, and Mary The Tunnel Boring Machine. #tunnels #engineering #VDOT #VDOTHR

We're making way for Mary! Since her initial breakout, the HRBT Expansion Project Team has been busy preparing for the next big tunneling milestone. They're cleaning her up and replacing her cutters after building the receiving cradle that will support the tunnel boring machine's emergence from the newly bored tube. With the help of a final six rings being installed this week, Mary and her gantries will be ready to achieve another engineering feat by the fall. Next, HRBT's international tunnel team will use nitrogen skids to move a TBM for the first time in the US. Virginia Department of Transportation Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP)

We just can’t say enough about Mary the tunnel boring machine and we love to answer the public’s questions about her as well! Mary and some of her discoveries during the tunnel boring process are the subject of the latest HRBT Tunnel Talk podcast. VDOT Construction Engineer Lion Nitschke, P.E., Project Director Ryan Banas, PE, CCM, and our host, the new HRBT Communications Manager, Paula Miller take a deep dive into what Mary found along her journey and what she’s doing now that the first tunnel is bored. Hear it now at https://lnkd.in/e-SYZweA or your favorite streaming platform. Apple: https://bit.ly/3wXiyuu Spotify: https://bit.ly/3VbnUdu Libsyn: https://bit.ly/45fB262