Studying A Fixed Crossing
In 1956, the General Assembly authorized the Ferry Commission to conduct feasibility studies for the construction of a fixed crossing. The conclusion of the study indicated that a vehicular crossing was feasible.
Consideration was given to service between the Eastern Shore and both the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads. Eventually, the shortest route, extending between the Eastern Shore and a point in Princess Anne County at Chesapeake Beach (east of Little Creek, west of Lynnhaven Inlet), was selected. An option to also provide a fixed crossing link to Hampton and the Peninsula was not pursued.
Initially, high-level bridges were contemplated to cross over the two main shipping channels on the selected route, Thimble Shoals Channel, which leads to Hampton Roads, and the Chesapeake Channel, which leads to points north in the Bay, notably the Port of Baltimore. However, the U.S. Navy objected, due to concerns that collapse of high level bridge(s) (due to either accidental or deliberate action) could cause a large portion of the Atlantic fleet based at the Norfolk Navy Base at Sewell's Point and other craft within the Hampton Roads harbor area to be blocked from access to the Atlantic Ocean.
To address these concerns, the engineers recommended a series of bridges and tunnels known as a bridge-tunnel, similar in design to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which had been completed in 1957, but a considerably longer and larger facility. The tunnel portions, anchored by four man-made islands of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) each, would be extended under the two main shipping channels. The CBBT was designed by the engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel of St. Louis, Missouri, who also served as the construction manager for the project.
Read more about this topic: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
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