Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel

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Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel

Carries	4 lanes of I-664
Crosses	Hampton Roads
Locale	Suffolk, Virginia to Newport News, Virginia
Maintained by	Virginia Department of Transportation
Design	Composite--Low-level Trestle, Double-tube Tunnel, Manmade islands
Total length	4.6 miles (7.4 km)
Vertical clearance	14'6"/4.42m
Opening date	April 30, 1992

Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (MMMBT) is the 4.6 mile-long (7.4 km) Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 664. It is a four-lane bridge-tunnel composed of bridges, trestles, man-made islands, and tunnels under a portion of the Hampton Roads harbor where the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth Rivers come together in South Hampton Roads, in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States.

It connects the independent cities of Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula and Suffolk in South Hampton Roads and is part of the Hampton Roads Beltway.

The MMMBT, completed in 1992, provided a third crossing of the Hampton Roads harbor, supplementing the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel which carries Interstate 64 between the independent cities of Hampton and Norfolk and the James River Bridge connecting the independent city of Newport News and Isle of Wight County in the South Hampton Roads region. All three facilities are toll-free.

The MMMBT cost $400 million to build, and it includes a four-lane tunnel that is 4,800 feet (1,463 m) long, two man-made portal islands, and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of twin trestle.

1 Battle of Hampton Roads
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Battle of Hampton Roads

The MMMBT is named for the two ironclad warships which engaged in the famous Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8–9, 1862 during the US Civil War. The battle took place between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The latter ship had been rebuilt from the wreck of the USS Merrimack. The site of the battle was within approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) of the bridge-tunnel structure named by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a memorial.