HAMPTON, VA — Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, announces that it will be providing quality assurance (QA) for the entire $3.8-billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) project.

The HRBT project is the largest construction project in Virginia and the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) history and is expected to take more than five years to complete. Currently, the I-64 HRBT is a 3.5-mile facility with two-lane tunnels connecting artificial islands with trestle bridges to shore. In order to ease congestion, the team will construct twin two-lane bored tunnels to increase capacity. The tunnel construction will use a tunnel boring machine method, and will be the fourth bored tunnel roadway project in the U.S.

The project is expected to ease major congestion, enhance travel time reliability, support emergency evacuation, improve safety, increase capacity, and update transportation management systems.

“We are excited to provide QA services on the entire HRBT project,” said Dewberry Executive Vice President Dave Mahoney, PE. “This design-build project requires a robust quality program and our team, working in collaboration with the tunnel contractor and VDOT, will help deliver a successful construction project. The two new tunnels and bridge/roadway improvements will have a huge impact on traffic safety and ease the congestion in such a populated area of Virginia.”

The land and tunnel work will happen simultaneously with the land work beginning in 2020 and tunneling expected to begin in 2022. Two years into the project, drilling under the water will happen 24 hours a day, requiring constant oversight.