Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project

Location: Virginia (2024)

Owner: Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)

Prior Experience: Peter Donnahue

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) Expansion is the largest construction project in Virginia’s history with a total project budget of $3.8 billion. Peter Donahue, PE, prior to joining Reliance, served as the Project Manager of the Owner’s Engineer Team that developed the project alignment, preliminary design, and the Design Build specifications and criteria for the project. Later, he oversaw the design development and the construction of the project. The existing I-64 HRBT is a 3.5-mile facility with two 2-lane immersed-tube tunnels connecting artificial islands, with trestle bridges to the shore, and experiences long traffic delays. The HRBT Expansion project would double the existing lane capacity with the new twin two-lane, 46-ft diameter bored-tunnels installed west of the existing eastbound tunnel; with current eastbound and westbound tunnels accommodating all westbound traffic. In addition to Peter’s role on the project, Reliance, as part of the Owner’s Engineer team, provided review of the project Geotechnical Data Report (GDR) and the Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR) for their adequacy. Reliance has also provided review of the time frames and reasonableness of the construction schedule for the tunnel-related construction activities and the development of an independent project risk registry.