ACCESS BOAT REVIEW

Chesapeake Bridge Bay Tunnel (CBBT)

SUMMARY

The new 84 Inch dock ladder extending 5 Ft below the rescue boat launch platform ensures access to the rescue boat over the complete range of tidal variations.

The Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel will form part of the parallel Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Crossing, which connects Virginia Beach with Northampton County, VA. The new tunnel will carry two lanes of traffic southbound, while the existing parallel tunnel will be converted from bidirectional flow to one directional two lanes northbound flow.

The tunnel will have a length of approximatively 1.2 miles (1.9 km), a finished internal diameter of 39 feet (11.88 m) and will be excavated by using an EPB machine with an excavation diameter of 43.5 feet (13.2 m) designed to cope with an external water pressure of up to 5.5 bar.

Chesapeake Tunnel Joint Venture (CTJV) have asked AZIERTA for an independent review of the access to the emergency rescue boat launch and compares current gangway and launch platform design to the applicable code requirements.