Cross sections were analyzed every 3 inches. Color code heat map was generated for ease of visualization.
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 a Heat Map and Cross Sections on the Tunnel entrance to confirm how much cutting was still required in order to properly receive the TBM.
