# The US Megaproject You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-04-27 · **Length:** 18:15 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0lQPphWTkQ) > Caption source: YouTube English (United Kingdom) manual captions via TubeAlfred (`en-GB`, kind=manual) after yt-dlp hit HTTP 429 on subtitle download (`en-GB` manual track listed; `en` auto also available). Figures and spellings (Norfolk ~**150 km** from Richmond; I-64 crossing **3.5 miles**; HRBT opened **1957**; Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel **1964**; Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel **1985**; second HRBT tube **1976**; Hampton Roads ~**17** cities/municipalities and **10** immersed tube tunnels; ~**100,000** vehicles/day peak summer; tailbacks up to **5 miles**; TBM **46 ft** diameter / **430 ft** long; tunnels ~**1.5 miles** each, ~**50 ft** below the old tubes; **9M** work hours; **16** nitrogen-infused jacks / **2,500-tonne** load / **12 hours** to turn; breakthrough **September 2025**; >**1M cubic yards** spoil ≈ **70,000** mixer trucks; **8** lanes; just under **$4BN**; completion late **2025** → early **2027**) cross-checked with The B1M's companion article, [The $4BN Megaproject Under America's Military Gateway](https://theb1m.com/video/hampton-roads-bridge-tunnel-expansion) (Adam Savage, 27 April 2026; standfirst *Is it a bridge? Is it a tunnel? No, it's a bridge-tunnel.*), which also names the VDOT interviewee as **Ryan Banas**, project director for the HRBT Expansion Project. YouTube chapters used for section headings; they line up with the captions. Screenshots from the 720p stream (format 136). Host **Fred Mills**. Contains paid promotion for **KiwiCo** (code THEB1M, 50% off first monthly crate). Additional footage/images: Virginia Department of Transportation, U.S. Navy, Ben Schumin, Gordie Howe International Bridge, Herrenknecht, Lantis, 13News Now, WAVY TV 10, WBFF FOX 45 Baltimore (companion adds Warner Bros.). ## Outline ### 0:00 Intro - **0:02** Cold open: you know this bridge, you’ve seen this tunnel (companion: the **Golden Gate** and the **Channel Tunnel**) — but how well do you know your **bridge-tunnels**? They link **Sweden–Denmark** (Øresund), **Hong Kong–Macau** and the two sides of **Tokyo Bay**. - **0:21** The USA did it first, in a place you’ve probably never heard of — all because of the **world’s largest naval base**. - **0:32** Questions: how did the base trigger a new kind of infrastructure (engineers called the crossing one of the “seven wonders of modern engineering”), and why is it a huge building site again **50+ years** later? A local voice calls it one of the most important mid-Atlantic infrastructure undertakings “probably in our lifetimes.” ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0005.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0027.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0040.webp]] ### 0:57 Norfolk, Virginia - **0:59** **Norfolk, Virginia**: small port city ~**150 km** from **Richmond**, the state capital — not famous, but home to one hard-to-miss landmark. - **1:15** **Naval Station Norfolk** — the largest naval facility in the world (“the largest, and… the best, OK?” says a Navy voice); the **US Navy** bases more vessels here than anywhere else on Earth. - **1:39** Norfolk is also home to the **world’s first ever bridge-tunnel**. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0062.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0080.webp]] ### 1:43 What’s a Bridge-Tunnel? - **1:47** Definition: a bridge that turns into a tunnel to cross water, then back into a bridge before the far shore. Rare because doing one *or* the other usually makes more sense — both is far more complicated. - **2:07** The **Virginia Department of Highways** (now **VDOT**) chose it anyway in the **1950s**. Before then, Norfolk ↔ **Hampton** across the harbour meant a slow **ferry** that couldn’t meet demand or run in bad weather. - **2:31** Need: carry **Interstate 64** for **3.5 miles** over the water. - **2:41** Why not a bridge? Huge Navy ships pass the same spot — a tall-enough bridge wasn’t feasible, and a collapse could strand the whole fleet. - **2:55** Why not all tunnel? (a) too expensive; (b) **1950s ventilation** limited tunnel length. - **3:09** Solution never done before: **two artificial islands** carry the road most of the way, then it dives under the channel. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0110.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0140.webp]] ### 2:32 Immersed Tubes - **3:21** Between the islands: an **immersed tube tunnel** — pre-manufactured segments floated out, sunk onto the harbour bed, sealed together, pumped dry and covered over. - **3:39** One of the first US uses of the method; still popular — B1M has covered it on the **Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link** (Denmark–Germany) and the **Scheldt Tunnel** (Belgium). - **3:54** Sponsor segue: immersed tubes remind Fred of a toy building set → **KiwiCo** crates. Fred and his kids build a capsule **vending machine** kit (learning what happens when you turn the crank), framed as STEM, problem-solving and screen-free family time; crates for “a toddler, an OAP, or somewhere in between.” CTA: kiwico.com/theB1M, code **THEB1M** for **50%** off the first monthly crate. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0165.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0200.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0228.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0290.webp]] ### 6:12 The HRBT - **6:12** **1957**: the **Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel** opens — “**HRBT** for short because, you know, Americans love an acronym.” - **6:22** Success breeds copies on the same shipping lane: the massive **Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel** (**1964**; archive newsreel: nine years drawing board to completion, **$140M**, “Virginia’s link to the future”) and the **Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel** (**1985**). - **6:50** **Ryan Banas** (VDOT): Hampton Roads is a region of ~**17** cities and municipalities with the **largest collection of immersed tube tunnels in the world — 10**; VDOT is considered a worldwide leader in the method. - **7:14** One two-lane tube soon wasn’t enough → second tunnel added in **1976**, giving **4 lanes** total; the legislature almost immediately began studying more capacity. - **7:44** A “very animated man” on local TV: ever been stuck at the HRBT? July 4th coming up — the expansion is “a game changer.” - **8:01** ~**100,000** vehicles a day in peak summer; incidents cause tailbacks up to **5 miles**. Narrow lanes, **no shoulders** → any accident means gridlock. So VDOT is expanding it… again. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0380.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0405.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0425.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0470.webp]] ### 8:40 The TBM - **8:25** This time, no “faffing around” with more immersed tubes — bore **two big holes** between the islands. - **8:40** A “bloody big” **tunnel boring machine**: **46 ft** diameter, **430 ft** long. - **8:55** Banas: US soft-ground bored tunnelling has come on leaps and bounds in the last **10–20 years**; HRBT uses the **world’s largest variable density TBM** ever fabricated. - **9:13** Named **Mary**, after **Mary Jackson**, the Hampton mathematician and engineer who worked on the **NASA** space programme in the **1960s**. - **9:23** Job: two ~**1.5-mile** tunnels about **50 ft** beneath the 1950s/70s tubes. Bored tunnels can’t sit just under the bed like covered immersed tubes — buoyancy would push them up — so they go deeper for **overburden**. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0525.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0570.webp]] ### 10:00 The North Island - **10:00** First, enlarge an island to fit new trestle bridges and tunnel portals. The **South Island** was already widened in the **1970s**; the **North Island** was too small. - **10:18** Banas: temporary **breakwaters** offset around the perimeter to shield the existing island from waves; dismantle the armour-stone and **riprap** side; backfill with good material the TBM could mine through — only then could the machine arrive. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0605.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0632.webp]] ### 10:50 Mary’s Journey - **10:50** Built in **Germany** (Herrenknecht footage), shipped in pieces to the **Port of Virginia**, trucked to the South Island and craned into an open pit for assembly. - **11:04** South Island’s overlapping holes = **launch pit**; the single North Island opening = **receiving pit**, where Mary surfaced before turning back for the parallel bore. - **11:23** ~**9M** work hours combined; the **first bored tunnel in Virginia** and only the **third** ever in the US. - **11:31** The turnaround: everything behind the shield and cutterhead removed, then one of the world’s biggest — and slowest — **180s** on **16 nitrogen-infused hydraulic jacks** cutting friction on a **2,500-tonne** load; still took **12 hours**. “**Nitrogen skate**” done only once before, on London’s **Silvertown Tunnel**. - **12:06** ~**2.5 years** to dig both tunnels; final breakthrough at the South Island in **September 2025** (news clip). Mary moved >**1M cubic yards** of sand, silt and clay — ~**70,000** concrete mixer trucks — then was dismantled and lifted out the same opening. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0665.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0700.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0727.webp]] ### 12:43 The Bridges - **12:43** Bridges widened without shutting the interstate: a **wider, higher** set of **trestle bridges**, traffic shifted onto new segments as they finish, old structures demolished. - **13:08** **Barges** as floating work platforms for heavy cranes and piling rigs building piled foundations (pedestals) and deck girders. Banas: upwards of **20 cranes** at peak — driving piles, island work, setting girders, deck pours. - **13:43** The **westbound North Trestle** sits between existing structures where barges can’t reach → a **beam launcher** takes girders from delivery trucks, launches them out over the foundations and sets them in place. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0770.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0805.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0845.webp]] ### 14:18 The Result - **14:18** Finished crossing: **8 lanes** — per direction, **2 general-purpose**, a **full-time express** lane and a **part-time shoulder express** lane. (Movie gag: “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going home.”) - **14:44** Approaches widened too, from **Mallory Street** in Hampton to **Patrol Road** in Norfolk. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0862.webp]] ### 14:58 Going to Plan? - **14:58** Cost: just under **$4BN** — less than the **Gordie Howe** bridge, which has no tunnel. Funded mostly by a regional construction fund fed by local **sales and fuel taxes**. - **15:24** Shock twist: a major US infrastructure project that is **on budget** (“I might actually need to go and lie down”). - **15:50** But a substantial **delay**: VDOT says the design-builder has struggled to meet projected production rates and near-term completion dates. **Hampton Roads Connector Partners** (a consortium of major contractors) — completion slips from **late 2025** to **early 2027**. - **16:20** Context: the **largest infrastructure project in Virginia’s history**, using the **second-largest TBM** ever deployed in the US, combining tunnelling, bridges, roads and marine works at once. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0905.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t0935.webp]] ### 16:20 Conclusion - **16:42** Delays are never good but understandable here. Banas: keeping it on time and budget is “a never ending battle… truly an orchestra” — roads, bridges, islands and tunnels must come together in harmony. - **17:23** America’s “**just one more lane**” meme — forgivable here: a historic crossing never meant for today’s load. In a country that often stumbles to match past construction successes, this could prove it still has what it takes. - **17:53** KiwiCo reminder and subscribe CTA. ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t1000.webp]] ![[images/The-US-Megaproject-Youve-Probably-Never-Heard-Of-t1045.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Projects and structures - Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT), Norfolk–Hampton, I-64 (world’s first bridge-tunnel, **1957**; second tube **1976**; Expansion: two bored tunnels, new trestles, **8** lanes, ~**$4BN**, early **2027**) - Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (**1964**; **$140M** per archive reel) - Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (**1985**) - TBM **Mary** (variable density; **46 ft** × **430 ft**; Herrenknecht-built in Germany) - North Island / South Island artificial islands (launch and receiving pits) - Westbound North Trestle (beam launcher) - Øresund link (Sweden–Denmark); Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge; Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (bridge-tunnel examples) - Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link (Denmark–Germany); Scheldt Tunnel (Belgium) (immersed tube examples) - Silvertown Tunnel, London (only prior nitrogen-skate TBM turn) - Gordie Howe International Bridge (cost comparison) - Golden Gate Bridge; Channel Tunnel (cold-open teasers, per companion) ### Places - Norfolk, Virginia; Hampton, Virginia; Richmond (state capital) - Hampton Roads region (~**17** cities/municipalities; **10** immersed tube tunnels) - Naval Station Norfolk (world’s largest naval facility) - Port of Virginia - Mallory Street (Hampton) to Patrol Road (Norfolk) approach widening ### Organisations and companies - Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), formerly Virginia Department of Highways - US Navy - Hampton Roads Connector Partners (design-build consortium) - NASA (Mary Jackson) - Herrenknecht (TBM footage/manufacturer); Lantis (footage) - 13News Now, WAVY TV 10, WBFF FOX 45 Baltimore (news footage) - KiwiCo (paid promotion; vending machine crate) ### Engineering concepts - Bridge-tunnel; artificial islands; immersed tube tunnel (float, sink, seal, dewater, cover) - Bored tunnel vs immersed tube; buoyancy and **overburden** - Variable density TBM; launch pit / receiving pit; nitrogen skate turnaround - Breakwaters, armour stone, riprap; backfill to mine through - Trestle bridges; barge-mounted cranes and piling rigs; beam launcher - Express lanes and part-time shoulder express lanes; “just one more lane” induced-demand meme ### Figures and facts - I-64 crossing **3.5 miles**; Norfolk ~**150 km** from Richmond - ~**100,000** vehicles/day peak summer; tailbacks up to **5 miles**; no shoulders - TBM **46 ft** / **430 ft**; tunnels ~**1.5 miles** each, ~**50 ft** below old tubes - **9M** work hours; first bored tunnel in Virginia, **third** in the US - Turn: **16** jacks, **2,500 t**, **12 hours** - ~**2.5 years** boring; breakthrough **September 2025**; >**1M yd³** spoil ≈ **70,000** mixer trucks - Upwards of **20** cranes at peak - **8** lanes; cost just under **$4BN** (on budget); completion late **2025** → early **2027** ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. Explains what a bridge-tunnel is and why Hampton Roads needed the first one, walks through immersed-tube construction, runs the **KiwiCo** vending-machine sponsor segment with his kids, and lands on the rare sight of a US megaproject staying on budget — while noting its slip to **2027**. ### Ryan Banas Project director for the **HRBT Expansion Project** at **VDOT** (named in the companion article). Interviewed on Hampton Roads’ **10** immersed tube tunnels, the 1976 second tube and capacity studies, the world’s largest variable density TBM, the North Island breakwater/backfill work, the **20+**-crane marine fleet, and the “orchestra” of keeping roads, bridges, islands and tunnels in sync. ### Mary Jackson Mathematician and aerospace engineer from **Hampton, Virginia** who worked for NACA/**NASA** at Langley (the space programme of the **1960s**); widely recognised as NASA’s first Black female engineer and one of the women profiled in *Hidden Figures*. The HRBT tunnel boring machine **Mary** is named in her honour. ### Adam Savage (The B1M) Author of The B1M companion article *[The $4BN Megaproject Under America's Military Gateway](https://theb1m.com/video/hampton-roads-bridge-tunnel-expansion)* (27 April 2026), used here to confirm Ryan Banas’s name and title and to cross-check the HRBT dates, TBM dimensions, nitrogen-skate turn, spoil volumes, lane configuration, cost and the late-2025 → early-2027 delay. (B1M writer; not to be confused with the *MythBusters* host.) ### KiwiCo Paid video sponsor. Subscription STEM project crates for all ages; Fred builds a capsule vending machine kit with his children. Offer: kiwico.com/theb1m with code **THEB1M** for **50%** off the first monthly crate.