anyone ever heard of the monitor-merrimac bridge-tunnel *it's amazing*

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I664_VA_MMMBT_Aerial.html

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/M3/MMMBT_N_Aerial.jpg

Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (I-664), looking north.
The curving 3.2-mile-long South Trestle is in the foreground. That connects to the South Island, where the south tunnel portal is, for the 4,800-foot long tunnel. The North Island and Newport News are in the distance. Starting at the left edge of the photo is the Newport News Marine Terminal.

Photo by Virginia Department of Transportation.

Click on photo for larger photo (149K); click on larger photo for even larger photo (227K).

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/M3/MMMBT_S_Aerial.jpg


Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (I-664), looking south from near the tip of Newport News.
In the foreground, you can see the North Approach Bridge, and the Small Boat Harbor to the left. The North Approach Bridge connects to the North Island (actually a peninsula) where the north portal of the tunnel is. In the distance, you can see the South Island and the South Trestle.

Photo by Virginia Department of Transportation.

Click on photo for larger photo (150K); click on larger photo for even larger photo (221K).

[ramanth]

I've seen this before but would love to see it and drive it in person! :D

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

I don't know if i could.. by the time i got across that looooooong bridge.. it would be so SCARY to go under that tunnell!!!! :eek:

[Twisterdog]

I read an article on the building of this. Fascinating! I *think* it was in National Geographic Magazine.

The first time I had to drive across the Bay Bridge in San Franciso, I thought I would have a panic attack. Of course, the alternative was the BART ... a subway system which runs *under* the bay.

Hmmm... fall into the water or drive under the water? Neither pleasant choices for a drylander from Wyoming! ;)

[GreyhoundGirl]

What happens when the water freezes? What happens when the tide rises? What happens if there is a storm and the water level is really high?

It's facinating! I've heard of it but never really thought about it much...

[ramanth]

Living in Michigan, if you want to get to Canada it's either by bridge or by tunnel, so I'm used to it. :D

I typically use the Blue Water Bridge (http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9618_11070-22062--,00.html) and it sits 155 feet above the water. :D

The Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada. :)

[ramanth]

What happens when the water freezes? What happens when the tide rises? What happens if there is a storm and the water level is really high?

It's facinating! I've heard of it but never really thought about it much...
Seeing as this is located in Virginia near the Atlantic Ocean, I don't think that body of water freezes very often.

Now tides, I'd be curious how they engineered around that. I imagine if a hurricane was looming, that it'd be shut down.

:)

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Living in Michigan, if you want to get to Canada it's either by bridge or by tunnel, so I'm used to it. :D


that is CRAZY!!! i didn't even know things like that existed (the underwater tunnels) ... i must be more sheltered than i realized.!! ;)

I've got this fear of falling.. ... so i don't do well driving across suspended things... like that reallllly long bridge... and If I could ever make it over the bridge.. i would be afraid the construction of the tunnell would collapse and water come rushing inside.

I wonder how long it takes to get from one side of the tunnel to the other.

[Karen]

Oh, you'd be nervous all the time driving in Boston! With histroically huge in every way imaginable The Big Dig, you're either driving far above the city, or below it - which means under Boston Harbor for parts of it, and every one of the tunnels is below sea-level. Only one person has been killed by a tunnel collapse, but many people get worried driving through it.

Me, I just go blissfully through, thinking "cool tunnel!" Or "pretty bridge!" After having the entire city under detours, destruction and construction for seemingly ever, it's nice to drive on the results! Not, mind you, that it's complete or anything, but parts of it are drivable.

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Oh, you'd be nervous all the time driving in Boston!

I need to get out more. I didn't realize places were set up like this... I mean i know there are bridges even looong bridges... but bridges that stretch across long bodies of water, underwater tunnels.. it is just crazy.!!! I must have been living in a hole! :o

[Karen]

I need to get out more. I didn't realize places were set up like this... I mean i know there are bridges even looong bridges... but bridges that stretch across long bodies of water, underwater tunnels.. it is just crazy.!!! I must have been living in a hole! :o

Much of Boston is now a giant huge hole!!! For a time, there were parts of the system where, when stopped in traffic, you could peer over a guardrail and down several stories into the ground below. Now it's all paved over, pretty much, but we know they are down there!

http://www.masspike.com/bigdig/background/index.html

[ramanth]

I've walked the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day and it's really cool to stand on the grated section and see the water waaaaay down below you. :D


Unites Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. The Mackinac Bridge is is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere with 7,400 feet of roadway suspended in the air over the straits of Mackinac. Total length of the bridge, including its approaches, is approximately five miles.

The USA/Canada tunnel in Detroit dips under the river connecting Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair and only takes a couple minutes to traverse. Not that long at all. :)

I've always loved bridges and tunnels. :)

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Much of Boston is now a giant huge hole!!! For a time, there were parts of the system where, when stopped in traffic, you could peer over a guardrail and down several stories into the ground below. Now it's all paved over, pretty much, but we know they are down there!

http://www.masspike.com/bigdig/background/index.html

thanks for the link... you guys have a lot going on up there!!! It looks like your city is out of a story... Atlanta seems so (constructionally simple) compared to Boston.

I would looove to visit Boston! I love you guy's accent!

[RedHedd]

The first time I had to drive across the Bay Bridge in San Franciso, I thought I would have a panic attack. Of course, the alternative was the BART ... a subway system which runs *under* the bay. I live here and driving over the Bay Bridge always scares me. Now that they're building a new bridge right next to it, it's even weirder. I always think about the Loma Prieta earthquake where a part of the Bay Bridge collapsed while people were driving on it - one of them a friend of mine who had just driven over that portion of the roadway and had just gotten off the bridge when it collapsed.

Now riding BART in the underwater tunnel - that's actually kinda fun. It's just dark and long but the trains go so fast, you're back on land before you know it.

[ramanth]

Now riding BART in the underwater tunnel - that's actually kinda fun. It's just dark and long but the trains go so fast, you're back on land before you know it.

I think BART is what I took from the hotel to the airport when I left San Fran. You're right! It's so fast which makes it fun! Woosh! :D