HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — The massive boring machine that's being used in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project reached a huge milestone.
The machine, named "Mary," is digging the tunnel for the project. She's named after 757 native Mary Jackson, a former scientist at NASA Langley. You might have heard of her from the movie Hidden Figures.
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She has finished boring the first two tunnels and arrived at the North Island on Wednesday. As she broke through the headwall in a receiving pit, project organizers and construction workers were excited to see some of their work come to fruition.
"[There's] an unbelievable amount of pride and joy in knowing that were making a mark on history. We're making a mark in Hampton Roads history and around the world. This will be a day I will carry with me for the rest of my career," said VDOT project director Ryan Banas.
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The 9.8 million pound machine launched from the South Island back in April of 2023. The nearly $4 billion expansion will one day allow for eight lanes of capacity across the water.
Mary's success in furthering the expansion project marks a historical feat: the new tunnel is the first bored roadway tunnel in Virginia, and only the third in the United States.
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As those working on the project celebrate the progress they've made thus far, they know their work is far from over.
"We have another tunnel to bore," said Chris Hall, a VDOT district engineer. "So until we're out of the ground on the other end of South Island, we still have some challenges to go through."
Last month, VDOT announced the project wouldn't be finished until late August of 2027 — about a year and a half after the project was supposed to be done.
