A Message From the Project Director |
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Spring has arrived and the pace of construction of the HRBT Expansion Project is increasing. Our Design-Builder, Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP), is making notable progress with the beginning of the assembly of the Tunnel Boring Machine, excavation of the South Island launch pit, and the literally hundreds of piles visible in the water which will form the foundation for the new trestle bridges. Throughout the project from the Mallory Street Bridge to the I-564 Interchange, HRCP is making progress and working to maintain the safety of the construction team.
In April, we celebrated National Work Zone Awareness Week to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. This year’s theme is “Work Zones are a Sign to Slow Down,” and the HRBT Expansion Project was the feature project of the national kick-off event held on April 12 at Fort Monroe. The focus and awareness of Work Zone Safety is the responsibility of every single person: whether you are construction worker, motorist, or passenger, we must all keep safety as a primary focus.
Remember as you drive through the project, there are continuing traffic shifts along every mile of the project corridor, please do your part to stay alert and follow posted speed limits, so that we can all get home safely.
Sincerely,
Jim Utterback, Project Director
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HRCP Marine Group Helps to Keep
Local Waterways Safe
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PICTURED ABOVE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel retrieving large fender from
HRCP’s Tug Dock in Willoughby for transport to Craney Island
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With safety being a priority on water as well as on land, the Project team is proud of the HRCP Marine Group for assisting in the removal of two significant marine hazards near the HRBT Expansion Project in early April. Following contact from the U.S. Coast Guard about a large object floating in the water off Old Point Comfort, HRCP dispatched a tugboat to locate and identify the hazard. It turned out to be two floating 55-gallon drums strapped together, which were successfully retrieved and secured by the Hampton Police Department Marine Division who had also responded to the scene. |
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The following day, the Coast Guard contacted the HRCP Marine Operations Hotline for assistance in locating and identifying another object spotted in the water. A HRCP tugboat was again quickly dispatched to assist the Hampton Police, and the tug crew recovered and transported a 10 foot by 2 foot rubber fender to the project’s Willoughby Tug Dock, where it was safely retrieved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Both the Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressed their appreciation to HRCP for assisting in the recovery and removal of these marine hazards, neither of which was related to the HRBT Expansion Project. Kudos to the HRCP Marine Group for not only working to construct the project’s new North and South Trestles, but also for coordinating with our maritime partners to keep our navigable waterways safe from underlying dangers for boat traffic.
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PICTURED ABOVE: Marine hazard recovered
from the water off Old Point Comfort
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Components are delivered to the South Island where the TBM will be assembled. |
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Assembly of the 46-foot diameter
tunnel boring machine is underway on the South Island.
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Shotcrete is applied as a substrate for the waterproofing inside the TBM launch pit on the South Island. |
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Excavation progress at the tunnel boring machine launch pit on the South Island. |
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A rebar cage is lifted into place as slurry walls on the North Island are constructed. |
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Time Travel Through the North Island |
Ever wonder how to expand an island? Captured here in a time lapse video is a front row seat to the expansion of the North Island at the HRBT.
The North Island expansion will accommodate the new trestle bridges and the arrival of Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine as she bores her way from the South Island to build the new twin tunnels.
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On April 12, 2022, the HRBT Expansion Project corridor provided the backdrop for the National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) Kick-off Event held at Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA. This event was hosted by the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
NWZAW began in Virginia more than 30 years ago when VDOT employees realized the importance of raising awareness of the risk workers take each day to build, maintain and improve roads. It has become a nationally recognized event, with a different state serving as host from year to year. This year’s theme, “Work Zones are a Sign to Slow Down,” emphasized the importance of motorists reducing speeds and paying attention to keep workers safe in work zones.
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Event speakers included Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller; Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Virginia Division Administrator, Thomas Nelson; and VDOT Hampton Roads District Engineer, Chris Hall. College student Cameron Hutt was a special guest, sharing memories of her father who was struck and killed in a work zone when she was just 6 years old. Cameron is a recipient of the Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship through ATSSA.
The event included a memorial to the 28 lives lost in work zones on Virginia’s roadways last year, which is unfortunately a 155% increase in work zone fatalities compared to 11 in 2020.
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VDOT Project Director Jim Utterback, HRCP Project Executive Juan Miguel Pérez, and some of the members of the HRBT Expansion Team gathered at the project office in Norfolk, Virginia on Wednesday, April 13, to demonstrate their support of work zone safety for GO ORANGE Day and the 2022 National Work Zone Awareness Week campaign. |
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Welcome (back!) Brooke Grow
The HRBT Expansion Project team members are excited to announce Mrs. Brooke Grow as Communications Manager for the project.
Grow has an extensive 20-year career in Corporate Communication, Municipal and State Government Relations, Community Outreach, along with US and International Business Development. For the past eight years, she worked for PRA Group as the Assistant VP of Business Development for its Canadian division; and prior to that she worked for the Virginia Department of Transportation for three years as a Senior Communications Specialist in the Hampton Roads District Office.
A native of Annapolis, Maryland, Grow is a graduate of the College of Charleston with a degree in Corporate Communications. With her husband and two children Brooke has lived in the Hampton Roads Region since 2010.
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Let’s Meet Brooke.
What are your communication goals for the HRBT Expansion Project?
I plan to play an integral and collaborative role between the HRBT Expansion Project construction team, VDOT team members, and our community partners to ensure the public receives concise, timely and factual updates about the project. With this monumental project progressing hour by hour, I want to educate local citizens, elected officials, the military installations and other interested audiences through transparent outreach so everyone can easily understand the intricacies of this project. In the coming months we will ramp up our social media initiatives, post new episodes for the podcast and host more community engagement events so everyone can have an upfront seat to this remarkable moment in transportation engineering. I look forward to the tunnel boring beginning so we are one step closer to enhancing a major thoroughfare that will better serve the people who live in and visit the Hampton Roads Region.
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PICTURED ABOVE: Brooke Grow, HRBT Communications Manager, 1st day "back' on the job touring the HRBT South Island |
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“Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine” was the one of the “stars” of the show at this year’s Virginia Transportation Construction Association (VTCA) conference in Hampton, VA on April 13 – 15. With more than 700 people in attendance, Mary’s exhibit was frequented by enthusiastic conference attendees who marveled at her size and innovative design.
Countless photos and selfies were taken with Mary during the conference as she piqued everyone’s interest. Boring is what she does, not what she is!
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Click here for facts about Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine.
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ICYMI: HRBT Expansion Winter 2022 Magazine |
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Catch up on the latest with the HRBT Expansion Project.
Get an update on Mary the Tunnel Boring Machine and her equally impressive, yet not-so-hidden counterpart, Katherine, the Slurry Treatment Plant.
Wonder what it takes to build a tunnel? How about more than 21,000 rings?
And yes, there is something in the water…learn about the historic objects discovered by project crew members during the construction process.
Read about this and more in the Winter 2022 edition of the HRBT Magazine. Read here>>>
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Get In the Know, and Then Go! |
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Sign up for the HRBT Expansion Project Alerts to get weekly updates on traffic and construction impacts. Perfect way to “know before you go!” |
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The HRBT Expansion Project team is committed to staying connected with the region for the life of the project. Like, join, follow, or tweet about the project on our social media channels. |
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