…but I'm glad they're not.
By TOM HOLDEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 14, 2006
The aging Downtown Tunnel will receive 157 new ceiling sections this fall after inspectors found unacceptable levels of decay in the metal frames that support them, the Virginia Department of Transportation said Thursday.
Officials said the Downtown tube is safe for travel. The sections to be replaced represent just under 4 percent of the 3,999 total tiles in the 54-year-old westbound tube, the area's oldest tunnel. [ed. note: I didn't need to know the blinkin' thing was that old.]
"We're not going to wait until there is a problem out there," said Greg Nataluk, facilities project manager for VDOT's Hampton Roads District. "We want to keep the tunnels in shape." [ed. note: You aren't the only one, Sparky.]
Tiles hanging over the westbound lanes leading to Norfolk will be removed starting Sunday evening, requiring lane closures from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. through July 30.
On July 31 and Aug. 1, both westbound lanes will close from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. to complete tile removal. Detours will be posted.
The timing of the announcement was not lost on VDOT.
In Boston, a woman died this week when a concrete slab fell from a tunnel ceiling in Boston's Big Dig, a massive, decades-long effort to bury nearly 7.8 miles of interstate under the city and improve connections to Logan Airport.
The collapse has been linked to a failed anchoring system that held the slab in place, but it's not a system that is found in the Downtown tube.
In the Norfolk tunnel, mounting brackets are incorporated into the cement of the tunnel wall, while in the Boston project the brackets were drilled into the cement and held in place with injected epoxy.
VDOT calls the white, porcelain-covered slabs "tiles," a term that belies their size and weight. Many are 7 feet, 6 inches long; 2 feet, 6 inches wide; and weigh between 300 and 500 pounds, depending on their location.
They are made of cement and held in a metal frame that is suspended over the roadway through a system of brackets. Designed to last for decades, the tiles are subject to a corrosive environment of salt air and unrelenting exhaust fumes. They must be regularly inspected.
The replacement work is part of a stepped-up maintenance effort at all Hampton Roads-area tunnels after flooding in 2003 at the Midtown Tunnel revealed problems with basic upkeep.
Since then, tide gates at all tunnels have been refurbished and are tested regularly. A new walkway and handrail at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel has been installed, and freshwater handling at the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel has been improved.
In March 2005, inspectors found eight tiles in the Downtown tube held aloft by rusted frames. The y were removed as a prelude to the work announced Thursday. [ed note: I wondered why there were holes in the ceiling…]
As more maintenance money becomes available, similar renovations could be expected at the Midtown and Hampton Roads tunnels.
The work on the downtown facility is expected to be finished by December and will be done by the Kennedy Company of Chesapeake at a cost of $557,000, VDOT said.
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*boy that should make ya feel safe has your sitting in traffic ! 
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