More than 50 years ago, 2,000 workers crossed 17 miles of water with steel, rock, and concrete to create the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Whether it’s part of your morning commute or your annual summer vacation, you’ve probably ridden across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) a few times in your life. Even so, how much do you really know about the bridge itself? Here are three fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about the “engineering wonder.” 1.It should not be confused with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Farther north, closer to Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a completely different bridge than our Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which carries Route 13 between Virginia Beach and Virginia's eastern shore. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a much shorter structure (only five miles long) and carries Route 50 between Maryland's eastern and western shores.
2. It’s not really called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
While we’ve always known that 17-mile-long (and seemingly never-ending bridge) as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the bridge-tunnel is actually named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel in honor of Lucius J. Kellam Jr., the man who pushed for its construction.
3. The CBBT is one of the longest bridges in the United States.
Did you know the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel measures more than 90,000 feet in length? It’s no wonder the American Society of Civil Engineers named the structure “One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World” in 1964!
Pretty interesting, huh? We're pretty shocked ourselves. Have a tidbit of history you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
