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RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today to celebrate the successful completion of mining operations at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) Expansion Project. The project’s tunnel boring machine (TBM), nicknamed Mary after pioneering NASA engineer Mary Winston Jackson, broke through on the second bored tunnel, completing it three weeks ahead of the first. Boring of the second and final tunnel began on October 17, 2024, and Mary reached depths of 173 feet before making today’s milestone breakthrough.
“Hampton Roads is home to the Port of Virginia and the world’s largest military installation, making it vital to both international trade and national security,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Today’s breakthrough brings us one step closer to ending gridlock in the region, unlocking new opportunities for the free flow of people and commerce through the Commonwealth, and ensuring our military personnel in the region are ready to respond more quickly when duty calls.”
“Life is better for Americans when transporting people and goods is easier,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “The final breakthrough of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel demonstrates what’s possible when collaboration meets innovation to build big, beautiful infrastructure.”
“Without the backing of the 2013 Virginia General Assembly, the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and our regional partner—the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, which had the determination to make this best-in-class project a reality—motorists would be sitting in traffic for several more decades,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard Miller III. “The region’s vision and funding support for this nearly $4 billion project, which doubles capacity, means motorists will enjoy much less congestion and much more travel time reliability across Hampton Roads’ busiest crossing for years to come.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), along with the project’s design-build contractor, Hampton Roads Connector Partners, marked several milestones along Mary’s tunneling timeline, including more than 366 feet of tunnel constructed in a single week—a world record for a machine of its size.
“With many eyes on VDOT as we lead the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history, we continue to be laser-focused on bringing this generational project to fruition,” said VDOT’s Commissioner of Highways Stephen C. Brich.
Over the coming weeks, Mary will install the final six rings of the tunnel, completing her three-mile journey beneath the Hampton Roads Harbor. Crews will then shift to outfitting the tunnel with the roadway, ventilation systems, and additional safety features. Work is also advancing in the first tunnel, which reached breakthrough in April 2024. Both tunnels are scheduled to open simultaneously when the project is completed in 2027.
More information on the HRBT Expansion Project can be found here.
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