chesapeake bay bridge-tunnel
After our visit to Newport, RI, Rachelle and I decided to visit Virginia Beach to see the Cape Henry Lighthouses. As we drove to Virginia Beach from Newport, we took US 13 South along the Eastern Virginia shore; so that, we could drive over and through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. After paying the toll I stopped the car to take a picture of the bridge as it lay before us.
The entire bridge-tunnel is 23 miles long, consisting of 12 miles of low-level trestle, two one-mile-long tunnels, two bridges, two miles of causeway, four manmade islands and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads. The current northbound lanes of traffic were built in 42 months at a cost of 200 million dollars. They were opened to traffic on April 15, 1964. On April 19, 1999 after 46 months of contruction and a cost of 250 million dollars, the current southbound lanes were opened to traffic.
To the right is a picture taken from the south end of one of the tunnels, looking back at the other entrance to the tunnel.