CAPE CHARLES, Va. (WVEC) -- A contract has been awarded for the construction of a new parallel tube to be added to the Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel, one of two tunnels that make up the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel crossing.
The Dragados Team was awarded the more than $755 million project, which will begin construction in the fall of 2017. Total construction of the new parallel tunnel at the Thimble Shoal Channel is expected to take approximately five years.
The announcement comes after three and a half years of project development. The original plan was to move the Chesapeake Grill restaurant -- which currently sits on top of the existing tunnel at Island 1 and provides a scenic overlook of the water -- to a new man-made island and also create retail space and 200 additional parking spots. However, this expansion proved to be too costly, and plans for it were scrapped.
When construction begins, the Virginia Originals gift shop and Chesapeake Grill restaurant will close permanently. The island's Sea Gull Fishing Pier will also be closed during tunnel construction, where it will undergo renovations. The pier will reopen to the public in 2022, upon the project's completion.
The owners Chris and Kellson Savvides opened the restaurant six years ago. They always knew there was the possibility of construction for a new tunnel, but they didn't anticipate the restaurant being closed permanently.
"That was kind of the outlier --hope that things would be back to normal after a certain amount of time, but that said, as much as my wife and I like to think that this is our island, this is our restaurant, this is part of the CBBT. Their main priority is providing transportation across the bay. So given the financial restraints, it makes sense what they had to do," Chris said.
Savvides has two other restaurants in Virginia Beach. He says he will open up opportunities at those operations for staffers at the Chesapeake Grill.
Currently the bridge-tunnel is a 20-mile toll crossing that directly connects Hampton Roads with the Eastern Shore. The bridge portions are four-lane spans, but its two one-mile tunnels -- the Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel and the Chesapeake Channel Tunnel -- are two-lane tubes.
When complete, the new Thimble Shoal Channel tube will carry two lanes of traffic southbound, while the existing tunnel will carry two lanes of traffic northbound.
More information about the construction project is available on the CBBT's website.