Welcome to
Explore CBBT

Here you'll be able to navigate around the key points of our facility while also taking in fun facts and trivia. But first, a few tips to help you explore our 3D models:

Larger buttons contain modals with more info about the current model

Hover over smaller buttons for additional tidbits and factoids

The bottom navigation allows you to jump between models

Hit the CBBT icon whenever you want to return to cbbt.com

For the best interactive experience, we recommend viewing this page on a desktop computer.
An E-ZPass Customer Service Representative is here to help! Open Monday thru Friday, 8 am – 4:30 pm.
Official Name: Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel
No Federal, State or Local tax monies were used to construct or operate the facility. Construction was paid through the sale of revenue bonds and in the 1950’s the sale of $200 million in bonds was the biggest bond issuance ever in the Commonwealth. This would be equivalent to $2 billion in 2022 dollars.
In 1965, the CBBT was bestowed “The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement” by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 2000, Structural Engineer magazine recognized the CBBT as one of the “Seven Structural Engineering Wonders of America for the 20th Century.”
The grounds of the Administration Building was the former site of “Kiptopeke,” an Eastern Shore mansion owned by the family of former Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise.
For a quick refresh, vending machines are available and an ATM is also located inside the building.
The butterfly walking trail is an easy 1.4 mile out and back hike sure to engage your natural senses. Bring FIDO along on a leash!
The large parking lot, with round-the-clock surveillance, provides a great place for layovers during wind and weather conditions. Overnight parking is permitted.
Learn more about Virginia’s Eastern Shore and the surrounding areas from our travel consultants and shop for a keepsake at the gift shop!
The rest area building is open 24/7 with round-the-clock surveillance.
E-ZPass Vending Machines are available inside the Plaza building
Cash, Credit Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and E-ZPass are accepted forms of payment.
Attn RVs! All propane must be turned off at the outside valve prior to crossing. Stay to the far right for wider toll lane and potential inspection.
Maximum vehicle height is 13’-6”.
Did you know that prior to the opening of the CBBT, the only way to reach the mainland of Virginia was by ferry?
Construction of the Parallel Crossing, Phase I, that opened in 1999 took 46 months and did not include tunnels.
As you travel northbound, you are driving on the original span that was opened to traffic on April 15, 1964.
More than 4 million vehicles cross the CBBT each year.
Construction of the original crossing that opened in 1964 took 42 months.
All power for the CBBT comes from Dominion Power in Virginia Beach and is carried across the facility in cable trays that are mounted on the sides of the trestles.
Emergency Pull-offs are located across the facility.
Emergency call boxes are located every ½ mile across the facility.
E-ZPass Vending Machines are available inside the Plaza building
The CBBT starred alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 3. Tune in to watch a high-speed chase up North Channel Bridge!
The northbound travel lanes measure 28’ from curb to curb
The southbound travel lanes measure 36’ from curb to curb, providing a safe shoulder for emergency pull-off.
In the 1960’s, survey towers were constructed every 2 miles across the Bay to allow surveyors to see over the curvature of the Earth and ensure exact alignment.
In a worldwide competition with more than one hundred major projects, the CBBT was selected “One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World.”
North Channel is a natural deep channel with water depths up to 100’. This channel is primarily used by pleasure craft and fishing trawlers.
Keep your eyes peeled. Dolphin love to frolic in these waters!
The BEST spot to capture sunrise and sunset!
The stick piles that you see in the water are home to fish pound nets. Local watermen hang their nets from these piles where they then trap just about any species of fish that is in the Chesapeake Bay.
Look to the north and you can see concrete ships just off the shore of Kiptopeke State Park. These concrete ships were placed to jetty the harbor that was the final port of the Chesapeake Bay Ferry System.
The Scenic Overlook is the only public stopping point along the CBBT at this time.
The 625-ft fishing pier will be renovated and reopened to the public in ~2027.
The former restaurant and gift shop will not return to the island. The new tunnel’s roadway will run in the vicinity of the former buildings.
Construction cost for the parallel tunnel at Thimble Shoal Channel is $756 million.
The tunnel boring machine will advance approximately 50 feet each day.
More than 9,000 precast concrete rings will form the outer shell of the new tunnel.
All ships that sail the waters of the Chesapeake Bay are piloted through the major shipping channels by the Port Authority.
The tunnel segments of the original tunnels were built in Orange, TX and floated to VA.
The ventilation buildings located on each of the manmade islands are manned round-the-clock.
Island Two will “receive” the tunnel boring machine (TBM) as she completes her dig under Thimble Shoal Channel. Construction of this receiving pit is under way.
The tunnels are cleaned every six weeks using special equipment designed for this. It’s always done at night when traffic is light.
In the winter months, harbor seals love to frolic and lounge around the large rocks that protect the tunnel.
Construction of a parallel tunnel at Chesapeake Channel is planned for the future, and once complete, will provide two southbound lanes of traffic, completing the Parallel Crossing.
The manmade islands serve as a natural reef from which the fish feed, providing great fishing opportunities in the Bay.
The islands make an inviting rest stop for birds and other waterfowl as they make their seasonal migrations.
Chesapeake Channel is used for ocean shipping, carrying watercraft headed to the upper parts of the Chesapeake Bay, including Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC.
Chesapeake Channel Tunnel is 300’ shorter than Thimble Shoal Channel.
The Big D, the large pile driver that was used to drive the more than 2,500 support piles that carry the trestles, capsized and sank during an Ash Wednesday storm in 1962. It remains on the Bay bottom today.
The current tunnel sections were fabricated in Orange, Texas and then floated to Virginia as final preparations were made before each tunnel section was lowered into a prepared trench on the Bay bottom.