Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel
bridge-tunnel beginning in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT, officially the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge–Tunnel) is a 17.6-mile (28.3 km) bridge–tunnel that crosses the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay between Delmarva and Hampton Roads in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It opened in 1964, replacing ferries that had operated since the 1930s. A major project to dualize its bridges was completed in 1999, and in 2017 a similar project was started to dualize one of its tunnels.
With 12 miles (19 km) of bridges and two one-mile-long (1.6 km) tunnels, the CBBT is one of only 15 bridge–tunnel systems in the world and one of three in both Hampton Roads and the United States. It carries US 13, which saves motorists roughly 95 miles (153 km) and 1+1⁄2 hours on trips between Hampton Roads and the Philadelphia metropolitan area and points north compared with other routes through the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area. As of January 2021, over 140 million vehicles have crossed the CBBT.
The CBBT was built and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation. Its construction was financed by toll revenue bonds, while operating and maintenance expenses are recovered through tolls. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge–Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity".
The tunnel sections addressed concerns that a bridge failure across critical shipping lanes would block not only shipping but navy access.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel” as bridge-tunnel beginning in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as bridge-tunnel beginning in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1070563. VIAF identifies the subject as 143213397. The Library of Congress control number is sh93003963. Authority coordinates are 37.031, -76.086. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1999, 2017 and 2021.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel primary sources, Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel archive and Chesapeake research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.