The five-year Thimble Shoal project to build a new Bay-Bridge Tunnel between Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore is set to break ground September 18.
The $756 million dollar project will create 1,000 temporary jobs. The project will utilize a tunnel-boring machine (TBM) to create the two-lane underpass that will run parallel to the two existing tunnels expanding the existing 53-year-old link.
A TBM system is able to protect the bay's ecosystem while reducing the possibility of weather-related days because the equipment runs underground. Contractors on the project are Dragados USA and Schiavone Construction