SUFFOLK, Va. — A new project begins Monday night to get rid of salt water seeping through openings at the entrances and exits of the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.
Starting at 8 p.m., drivers should expect to slow-downs, lane closures and traffic stops because of the construction work.
Drivers will see the roadwork every weekday, but officials for the Virginia Department of Transportation tell 13News Now the temporary inconvenience means a safer road in the end.
“It’s been a long-standing issue,” said Hampton Roads department spokesman Dave Forster.
He explained the pressure from the water underneath the road pushes through joints in the islands with the entrances and exits.
“Water finds a way, especially when it’s surrounding structures that are underwater,” he said. “This is going to take care of it, once and for all.”
Forster said VDOT hired Curtis Contracting to do the project for $2.5 million.
The work focuses on building underneath the islands for entrances and exits to the tunnel. To remove the leaking water, the construction crews will use ‘c-shaped’ steel plates beneath the road.
That’ll move leaking water away from your tires into the established drainage system.
Construction crews have so much work to do, Forster said it might cause 20-minute backups and drag into the weekends.
But ideally, the work will hopefully help save the transportation crews from treating the roadway in case the water freezes on it in the winter.
“That’s one of the good things about the project. We’re going to eliminate that and we can save that expense,” said Forster.
VDOT officials have a tight timeline, with the goal of being done by May 17.
officials say they will update a construction schedule weekly. For updates, you can check their Twitter, website, or call 511.
For now, the lane closures will be limited to the following hours:
I-664 South:
Monday-Thursday: 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Friday: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Saturday: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Sunday: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
I-664 North
Monday-Thursday: 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Friday: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Saturday: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Sunday: 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.