The project is aimed at decongesting the existing road which dates back to 1976 and causes tailbacks up to 8 km.
The Governor of the State of Virginia in the U.S. has reportedly announced the award of the €2.9 billion worth contract for upgrading and extending the I-64 between Norfolk and Hampton to the joint venture that comprises Dodin Campenon Bernard and VINCI Construction Grands Projets, both subsidiaries VINCI Construction (33%), Dragados USA (42%) and Flatiron (25%).
Further from the reports, the project calls for building and designing 5.3 km of viaducts over new tunnels and the sea along with widening 14.5 km of existing roads. The new component would involve digging of two tunnels, each of which would be 2.4 km long, between two of the artificial islands utilizing a varying density tunnel boring machine with 13.56 meters diameter.
Both the islands would apparently be connected to the continent through two viaducts over the sea, the first of which measures 1 km and the other 1.9 km. Widening, reconstruction and demolition works would be carried out on 14.5 km of road, for the existing component, as well as two additional traffic lanes would be built in each direction. The road would be utilized throughout the works.
Sources familiar with the matter cited that the aim of the project is decongesting the existing network, i.e. the existing road, that dates back to 1976, is in daily use by more than 100,000 vehicles, which causes tailbacks of up to 8 km to the bridge upstream.
For the uninitiated, VINCI is a notable company in the extension and modernization of the US road network. For example, the Ohio River Bridge between Kentucky and Indiana was delivered by VINCI Construction Grands Projets in 2016, which included 19 engineering structures, a 512 meter twin-bore tunnel, and a 762 meter cable stayed bridge. The first public-private partnership of the VINCI Group in the United States was the Ohio River Bridge project.
