The Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) is the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

crossing for Interstate 664 (I-664) in the southeastern portion of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is a four-lane bridge–tunnel composed of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s, trestles, artificial

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s, and

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

under a portion of the Hampton Roads harbor where the mouths of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers come together. It connects the independent cities of Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

South Hampton Roads South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,177,742 as of 2020. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA ( M ...

and is part of the

Hampton Roads Beltway The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region o ...

, a circumferential Interstate Highway which links the seven largest cities of Hampton Roads. The MMMBT, completed in 1992, provided a third major vehicle crossing of the Hampton Roads harbor area, supplementing the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel which carries I-64 between the independent cities of Hampton and

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

(1957), and the James River Bridge connecting the independent city of Newport News and Isle of Wight County in the South Hampton Roads region (1928). The MMMBT cost $400 million to build, and it includes a four-lane tunnel that is long, two artificial portal islands, and of twin trestle.

Battle of Hampton Roads

The MMMBT is named for the two

ironclad warship An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...

s which engaged in the famous

Battle of Hampton Roads The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the ''Monitor'' and ''Merrimack'' or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War. The battle was fought over two days, March 8 and 9, 1862, in Hampton ...

on March 8–9, 1862, during the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded f ...

. The battle took place between and . The latter ship had been rebuilt from the wreck of . The site of the battle was within of the bridge–tunnel structure named by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a memorial.

References

* Rand McNally "The Road Atlas", 2005.

External links

Roads to the Future website

* ttp://www.virginiadot.org/travel/hro-tunnel-default.asp Virginia Dept. of Transportation: Hampton Roads Tunnels and Bridges
Snopes.com discussion about photo

Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel Bridges completed in 1992 Road tunnels in Virginia Bridge–tunnels in North America Buildings and structures in Newport News, Virginia Transportation in Newport News, Virginia Transportation in Suffolk, Virginia Buildings and structures in Suffolk, Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia Tunnels completed in 1992 Road bridges in Virginia Immersed tube tunnels in the United States Crossings of the James River (Virginia) Trestle bridges in the United States Bridges on the Interstate Highway System

Battle of Hampton Roads

See also

References

External links