The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel CBBT, Virginia VA

[fenech97]

Hi. A great video, thanks for sharing. The bridge will be having 4 lanes in the near future. It will need them with all the traffic these days. Those big Container trucks will need them for sure. fenechc

[Freewayjim]

@fenech97 Thanks! the bridge has 4 lanes now, I think they will expand the tunnels to 4 lanes at some point but from what I understand that is a very expensive undertaking.

[Dracodan93]

ahhh when I started to watch this only said Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel not to be confused with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

[didimichou]

WOW ! ! ... what a great video ... Thank you so much Freewayjim ! ! !... really exciting... we will be there in November... on our way to Miami.... Keep up the good work !!! ;-)

[Freewayjim]

@didimichou Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy a great trip!

[raxanacastillo]

I remember my parents passed threw here twice I was.scared as a little gurl

[wilsonkm]

Hmmmm....maybe I need to make a drive on the CBBT sometime. It's about a couple or three hours from me. Nice video!

[Freewayjim]

@wilsonkm Thank you, It really is worth seeing but beware of the toll, it's like $10-12 or so.

[cjs121675]

Brings back a memory dude! I was on this bridge tunnel in '89 with my grandparents and my aunt after visiting Norfolk Naval Base and Virginia Beach. To me at the time, being all of 13 years old, I was impressed with it!!!! Thanks for your videos!

[Freewayjim]

@cjs121675 Thanks for watching!

[Eztinlau]

Thanks for the video... it helped me do my research about bridges:D

[Freewayjim]

@Eztinlau Glad I could help!

[ducyhada]

This look like a characters. Congrautlations to US 13 Cheaspeake Bay bridge tunnel

[InterstateKyle]

Awesome!

[themolldoll18]

thanks soooo much it really helped my project :)

[Baleeia]

Thank you for video. It helped a lot seeing the bridge/tunnel. Does it have ez pass?

[Freewayjim]

@Baleeia Sure thing, yes the CBBT has been accepting EZ Pass since 2007 according to their website.

[GratefulCraig]

My wife and I talk about this bridge tunnel all the time. Great video and we look forward to the real deal. Nice music pairing as well.

[Freewayjim]

@GratefulCraig Thank you, seeing and driving it in person is pretty special, I would recommend stopping at the pier/restaurant/gift shop off the south tunnel.

[ducyhada]

Last post

[mooseasaurusrex]

I grew up on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Back when it was just 2 lanes all the way through.

PS good video.

[RickSeraf]

How do they get drinking water to the restaurant on the man-made island?

[Freewayjim]

@RickSeraf There are probably water pipes running along side the bridge from the pier to the Norfolk mainland, only a few miles.

[peacebwilly]

wait it costs $12 to cross? blow that out your ass

[Freewayjim]

@peacebwilly Sure does!

[panicandfoblvr]

@peacebwilly probablly because it costs so much to maintain a bridge that long! i'd rather pay 12 dollars and be assured that i make it across safely than not pay as much and have a bridge/tunnel collapse while I'm on it!

[peacebwilly]

WHOA SLOW DOWN BRO

[MrGilliardMusic]

Awesome video. I live in MD.....will find an excuse to drive this very soon (and this is coming from someone who HATES tall bridges most of the time...).

[Freewayjim]

@MrGilliardMusic Well, at least this one isn't very tall :) Thanks for watching!

[rccismebaby123]

you're stupid... I have been on that and it's not a tunnell

[Freewayjim]

@rccismebaby123 I'm stupid? Dude, there's TWO freaking tunnels on this facility, that's why it's officially called the Chesapeake Bay BRIDGE-TUNNEL. There are three similar Bridge/Tunnels in the Hampton Roads area. A Bridge Tunnel is a long low level trestle with a tunnel (or two) placed at a strategic location, usually a shipping channel. Now you know and you are less stupid than you were 15 seconds ago.

[danielklee92]

@rccismebaby123 you are stupid,actually

[GHplayer2296]

I go on this bridge every year when I go the outer banks of north carolina. Very awesome bridge. Can't wait to see it again this year :))

[ernurseshhhhh]

Wow this is a great video! :)

I would love to travel on that bridge/tunnel but I live in California. :/ Well I plan on moving to Virginia after college so I'm gonna be sure to take a trip to Virginia Beach and travel on that.

Thanks for the great video! :)

[Freewayjim]

@ernurseshhhhh It's a spectacular drive! thanks for watching.

[Iaokanan29]

Marvelous!! If I would be there I'd sing like Sebastian: "under the sea, under the sea, darling it's better down where it's wetter.....!!"

[laaayon]

does that tunnel pass under the sea?

[Freewayjim]

@laaayon Yes, shipping channels to be exact.

[ariwcharles]

4 people forgot that jumping off this bridge is a bad idea.

[MrWill1985]

I am planning to drive the CBBT this June at the end of the month. But only going Southbound. Since my plan for a June vacation is leave home Friday. Spend Friday night in Pocomoke to visit OC. Then drive from Pcomoke Saturday to Norfolk/VA Beach and spend Saturday-Wednesday there. Then leave Wednesday for Richmond and spend Wednesday-Sunday at Richmond then head home Sunday. So I may be going on the CBBT in June.

[icpfan19]

i like this tunnel me and some friends took a ride in the tunnel the day after the rockstar energydrink festival in va beach back in 2008.at first i was nerved up but it took me a wile to get use to it

[SPS148669]

Nice time lapse for such a long crossing.

[hornschamps07]

Me and my friend had to drive over this during that crazy blizzard the other day.

[shoredude2]

@1837Ryan This is actually the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is in Maryland.

[kd4adv]

The ACHS Varsity Football team played Nandua in 1985 (we won). We went on the CBBT in a James River Charter Bus. I went there again in the mid 2000s and stopped at the restaurant and walked around abit. Saw a freighter and a military Hovercraft going by. It's cool at night with the lights shining on the road and in the tunnel. Put on some music from "Miami Vice" (In The Air Tonight) and you got yo self a real ride.

[BeatlesFetish09]

what if u ran out of gas while on the middle of the bridge?

[icpfan19]

@BeatlesFetish09 than you shit out of luck

[ToonTownHuckleberry]

@BeatlesFetish09 at least traffic could all go to other lane. in the tunnel would be a huge mess. hopefully nobody would be dumb enough to go over that with only a little bit of gas left.

[SuperMurph33]

I went over the bridge twice and i also stopped at the pier. It was really awsome and a great memory

[wossharp]

my first vaction to virginia beach yaaa

[NickJustinTaylorAdam]

I might be going on this bridge this summer on my trip to Washington DC to go the museums and to Virginia for a Jonas Brothers concert with my grandfether, my mom and my older sister

[mizzouluvr]

Very nicely done, especially with a wonderful Satriani tune backing it up

[Freewayjim]

@mizzouluvr Thank you!

[trinidior]

amazing video i recently did the drive from boston to va and was completely breathless by this bridge amazing man made talent....

[Quadrye]

I been in this tunnel to be exact about 31 times, and other tunnels.

[1extremeguy]

I went on the CBBT southbound for the first and so far only time back in the summer of 05 unfortunetly it was around 11 at night so all i saw was darkness except for the endless street lights on the bridge and the lights on a freighter out in the atlantic

[patlk]

the vids are coming soon

[gAwjus25]

I'm a lil nervous about the bridge, but I may have to drive over it soon for work.

[ford9572]

@gAwjus25 I think it should be okay most of the time, But I can easily understand your concern, I wouldn't drive on the bridge if the winds are 50 mph or over.

[ford9572]

I well remember cruising across the CBBT with my parents and my younger sister Jessica as well as our male Doberman Pinscher Gideon in our fully loaded 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire Station Wagon in mid June of '78 when we were on our way back to Clinton, MD after we'd stayed with some friends in Lynchburg for a week, My Dad is a physician and he had a general practice in Camp Springs and he allowed himself 3 days to drive back. My Mom stayed at home with us.

[Freewayjim]

Ahh, back in the days when it was 2-way traffic the entire length.

[ford9572]

Awesome vid!!! LOVE the Satriani!!! I remember driving across the CBBT with my family in the '70s.

[Freewayjim]

Thanks.

[bluefrog50]

Nice job on the video, and the tidbits included within. This is an amazing piece of engineering, and I was able to take a ride from the comfort of my livingroom couch. Well done!

[Freewayjim]

Thank you!

[interstategar]

Twice, I'v seen harbor porpoises in the middle area not far from the roadway cruising for fish.

[Middayproductions]

lol i live chesapeake. i love going on the bridge =)

[minasminority]

i used to live in yorktown and every year sometimes more my family and i would drive across there. once, on a foggy, stormy day we stopped at the third island and saw harbor seals on the rocks and pilot whales in the water

[kishaoh]

I haven't been under the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel forever. The last time I went was back in the early 90's. The first time I went under the tunnel, I was really scared. The scenery is very beautiful.

[Hunkola]

I don't understand why there are two tunnels when the rest of it is a bridge..........why not just make the whole thing one long bridge?

Like I said...........MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE.

[Freewayjim]

How does National Security work for ya?

[meeshlv006]

its for large boats that cant fit under the bridge dumb ass

[mustangboi90210]

You moron llooll

they made a tunnel so the ships could get through.

you're a jackass.

[onorebakasama]

Because of the shipping channels. The US Navy ain't like the idea of high-level bridges, because if they collapse, the Chesapeake Bay would effectively be blocked off from the Atlantic Ocean, and that would not be good for a naval fleet, especially one out of Washington, DC.

The only reason it doesn't make sense is because you didn't look it up.

[Hunkola]

Hey look.........don't make fun of me just because I'm black and didn't go to college like you devilish whites..........asshole!

[Freewayjim]

The Navy DEMANDED that tunnels be constructed for those very reasons back in the planning stages in the late 50's.

[onorebakasama]

Hmm, I didn't know that. That's rather interesting.  Cost issues aside, though, rivers and things would at least be considerably more scenic without big bridges in the way. ...Even though I love bridges.

Also, yay for the Delmarva Peninsula!

[TheStrangerDied]

I love this bridge, been on it dozens of times.

[jamesb1221222]

heh, i remember the two lane single bridge back then. scary shit

[Freewayjim]

I remember those days too, scary indeed!

[fromwkfsmouth]

My late father took this road en route to home in NJ (I now live in FL) from our Williamsburg vacay with me, my cousin, and Muetti!

[Fanik8]

I took the CBBT in 1987 with my family on our way to Williamsburg, Va. Remember it very well.

[Vigormaster]

Awesome video!

[crnbsn610]

How many tunnels are there and how long are each of the tunnels?

[Freewayjim]

There are two tunnels and each one is a mile long.

[Freewayjim]

Have a safe trip!

[Freewayjim]

55 on the bridges and 45 in the tunnels...I think.

[meteorologist4life]

It's 55 all the way and strictly enforced...I have family who work on the bridge-tunnel

[dudesons90]

great video, my dad and i went through those tunnels when we were driving from elizabeth city NC to jackson MI

[jimleslie48025]

One of finest videos I have seen! That music matches perfectly with travel on the bridge in the morning. Well done, Freewayjim.

[Freewayjim]

Thank you, a clear day would have been really nice :)

[LYSjackass]

i love it when the tractor trailers give you that wind push in the tunnel

[edios2002]

Thanks for posting Jim .Will be using this road to get to the Outer Banks in the fall and wanted to know what to expect.Now I know.

[5HOPKINS09]

This is how you get to me. yayy. good ol boring eastern shore.

[mooseasaurusrex]

HA! I grew up there too. Back when this was only two lanes.

[Lukelr]

i think i would just about pee in my pants, going through those tunnels, with just one lane in each direction. That was the scariest part. But, building a tunnel under water is a pretty daunting task...i've been fascinated by this bridge my entire life, thanks for posting the vid.

[Freewayjim]

You are welcome!

The fact that engineers were able to build two tunnels connected on man-made islands in the middle of the bay, miles from shore still impresses the heck out of me.

[ZoeToots]

I really like when you do the map... but I really like the bridge...Even hazy! That is also one spendy bridge!!!! wow!

[jalfredl]

thank you for the video, jim

this will definitely be useful in the future.

[bonlu]

This bridge has been the source of many childhood nightmares! My father took us on it the year it opened (I was 6 y/o). I haven't been on it since. Regardless, I appreciate you filming/posting it!

[USAGiant]

great video jim. have not been on the cbbt to/fom va beach since 2994. need to go back on it soon.

[AaronApolloCamp]

We're quite a ways off from the year 2994...

[USAGiant]

woops mistype. I am not from the Jetson or Captian Kirk area lol. I meant i have not been on the CBBT since 2004 lol.

[AaronApolloCamp]

Well, we all make mistakes...

[waboy23]

Another great video Jim. Keep them coming! :)

[1petealmquist1]

The lake pontitrain ( dont know how to spell) causeway is 25 miles long and belive or not the CBBT has 23 mile facility.

[essigmw]

Just imagine, when passing through the Thimble Shoals Tunnel, you could be passing under an aircraft carrier!

[Freewayjim]

That would be awesome considering My Son & I are huge Carrier fans

[FrankieA]

Awesome video. It brings back childhood memories. We would travel on the CBBT to get to the Outer Banks during the summer. Thanks for posting.

[bobisbear]

luv va . always wanted to see this bridge husband alittle spooked . but were from mass .i think the big dig driving through that spooks me .

[ohyeahboy22]

Can you do I-64 west around Williamsburg, VA and/or Newport news. I live there and I'd like people to see it.

[Freewayjim]

I've done I-64 and I-664 in Newport News, check the other videos. As for Williamsburg, well it will be some time until I get to the Norfolk area again so that video won;t be made any time soon.

[iloveroads]

I would like to see New York City. It would be so awesome!!!!!!!!!

[Need4Camaro]

By the way, I have two requests, Do I-575 in Georgia and U.S. 1 through the Florida Keys

[Need4Camaro]

Been on this one before but it was before they widened it. Tunnel still looks the same, awsome!

[JimRagan1967]

Thanks for sharing this Jim. My parents used to live in Delaware until 2000 and I used to love driving on the CBBT to go visit them. I have seen many places from coast to coast and to this day, the CBBT ranks as one of my top choices for vacation destinations.

[andyjay729]

Have you been on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway yet?

[Freewayjim]

No, I have not driven that yet.

[delicateflowers]

It's been hazy for the past month in SE Virginia because of the wildfire burning in North Carolina (Dismal Swamp). You can smell the smoke 100 miles away.

[kevrosmith]

Love the music. Very cool.

Looks like a great drive.

Brisbane is currently building a few land-based tunnels: 4.8 klm (3 mi) dual lane twin tunnels for the Rivercity Motorway and Airport link: 5.7 klm tunnels (3.5 mi) with dual 3 lane tunnels. The last one is apparently the largest road project undertaken in Australia. Wohoo.. can't wait to drive on it 2012! And the design for the Rivercity Motorway, Inner Northern Bypass & Airport link interchange at Bowen Hills looks spectacular!

[Freewayjim]

You'll have to film it :)

[kevrosmith]

Yeah.. I'd love to... wait a few years though - Rivercity Motorway: 2010 (it's under construction now) and Airport link has only just been approaved and the PPP signed with the Private operator: it'll be finished 2012. Interestingly enough, the Northern Busway will also have it's own twin tunnels along the same section as Airportlink... so that'll be 4 tunnels in one area.

[kevrosmith]

The best I could do now is the Sydney Harbour Tunnel (goes under the famous Syndey Opera House) and a few other tunnels around Sydney (mostly cut-and-cover)... (don't often get to Sydney though!)

And a few short ones (like < 500 metres) around Brisbane. They're still cool to drive through though.. especially in heavy traffic.

[ConJenG]

I wuz here. Great Job boys

[smartkid1985]

freewayjim, is it true that that bridge used to be supported by cables?

[Freewayjim]

Not this bridge, it's all trestle with the exception of the tunnels & man-made islands.

[smartkid1985]

oh, someone told me in the 80's that this bridge used to be supported by cables, thanks for the information anyway

[vbdenny]

never.

[vbdenny]

oh yeah, the picture at the opening is the Deleware Memorial Bridge.

[vbdenny]

Great job Jim. Looked very familiar to me having been over the thing over 200times. The "haze" you mentioned wasn't haze, it is smoke from the fires in the Dismal Swamp and northeast NC (the smoke is still here). The tunnels are 1.5 miles long and provide clearance for navel and commercial vessels to pass. The largest ships must cross at high tide to clear the top of the tunnels.

[Freewayjim]

Ah, we got a heavy dose of that haze in NC (I-95) the preveious evening on our way up towards the area. 200 crossings? you lucky dog!

[mikeslogic]

I remember crossing that when I was a kid, it felt very cramped, was neat though.

[georgiaroadgeek]

You know I wanna drive this one!!! :)

[Freewayjim]

You must! And do a "Roadgeek-cam" of it along the way.

[prfsnlwannabe]

I'm surprised that there's even a restaurant at all on one of those man-made islands. LOL!

Anyway, cool video, and watching this makes me hope I can go over that bridge someday. I presume the toll is $12 one way, and not say, the cost of a round-trip over that bridge and back?

[Freewayjim]

Well, I paid my $12 at the northbound Toll Plaza, we went up to a scenic rest area that's just before the Bridge-Tunnel official ends on the northern end. At that point we legally turned around and went south, which is what we really wanted to film anyway, at no extra cost, now that's value!

[vbdenny]

The toll is $12 each way however if you return withing 24hrs the toll is $4

[gvilleguy32605]

I take it you have to have plenty of gas before you drive on there!

[Freewayjim]

Yes, it's approx. 25 miles between toll booths and I forget what's on the northern end, the south end is fairly commercial.

[llnesinthesand]

Looks like a great ride Jim! I will have to work this into one of my trips someday. I really enjoyed the music on this one too!

[BYUMike]

Truly Truly Amazing job, and drive Jim....Thanx for sharing!!!!! You cant top that!!!!

[windyshrimp]

Awesome, need to drive through there someday.