Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel, Virginia

The State of Virginia Administration, through the government-owned company Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel (CBBT), is led construction of a new underwater road tunnel at the Chesapeake Bay. This new underwater tunnel will be parallel to the existing one and will be over 1.2 miles long. It will be part of the 17.6-mile structure that connects Hampton’s area to Virginia's eastern shore, increasing capacity alleviating traffic and disruption caused by accidents and maintenance.

As the Technical Advisor to the Contractor, SENER reviewed the detailed design of seven systems in the tunnel: 

• Fire and Life Safety: tunnel ventilation (TVS), staircases & egress corridors pressurization and Fire Protection;

• Mechanical: Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Freight Elevators and Fueling;

• Electrical: Medium Voltage (MV), Low Voltage (LV), grounding & lightning and lighting;

• Drainage: sanitary drainage, rainwater drainage and sewer;

• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS);

• Instrumentation, Control and Automation(ICA);

• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).

SENER was also the advisor for F&LS, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, ITS and Control topics related to stakeholders (Fire Brigade, FHWA, etc.), standards (Buy America, NFPA, etc.), equipment (power transformers, pumps, etc.), materials (cables, pipes, etc.) and general issues.