John Cletheroe's
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Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Virginia
In my opinion the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is one of the Seven Man-Made Wonders of the USA and Canada.
Location
This amazing structure runs across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, carrying US13 between Cape Charles on the tip of the Delmarva peninsula and the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area, a distance of 17.6 miles. Both ends of the structure lie in the state of Virginia.
Both the Rand McNally Road Atlas and the Microsoft Encarta World Atlas show the southern end of the structure ending outside any town, between the towns of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. However, Dean Reynolds who used to work in the area emailed me to say that as you approach the southern end, driving south, there's a sign saying "Welcome to Virginia Beach". In addition Lorraine Smith, Director of Public Relations for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, kindly emailed me to say "The southern end of the facility does exit into Virginia Beach".
Description
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel consists mainly of an artificial causeway of trestled roadway, some twelve miles or so in length.
Near the north end of the structure there is a high steel girder bridge over a sea lane, and near the southern end there are two mile long road tunnels under sea lanes, each running between pairs of small artificial islands.
You can park on one of the artificial islands where there is a small gift shop and cafe.
There is a toll charge for using the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
The structure was opened on 15-Apr-1964 after three and half years of construction. It cost $200,000,000 to build.
There is a photograph of part of the artificial causeway section of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on the cover of "The Way It Is", the first Bruce Hornsby and The Range album.
A second parallel bridge-tunnel was opened in April 1999, meaning that entire facility now has four lanes.
External Links
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel This official site has a simple and effective design. It includes photographs, details of tolls, information about the newly completed parallel bridge-tunnel and a complete history of the facility. Checked Aug-98.
Similar Structures
The British Daily Telegraph newspaper of 10-Oct-03 included an article, accompanied by a photograph, of the Aqua-Line which crosses Tokyo Bay in Japan. This is a combination of a bridge and an underwater tunnel. According to the article the Aqua-Line is 9.3 miles long and was completed in 1997 at a cost of $7.7 billion. The toll is equivalent to 16 UK pounds per car, so most drivers continue to use the old coast road.
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
Bridges
Scenic Roads
Seven Wonders Of The USA And Canada
Tunnels
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As with all the other pages on this personal web site, all the information on this page is solely the opinion of the author, who has no connection whatsoever with any of the companies and organisations mentioned other than as an actual or potential customer.
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Most recently modified 12-Oct-03