On this date in 1964, the original 2-lane northbound Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (officially the Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel) was opened after 42 months of construction in the state of Virginia. The 2-lane southbound lanes were opened in 1999 making it a four-lane 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay, replacing the long-standing ferry system as the primary channel crossing. The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two nearly one-mile-long tunnels beneath two Atlantic shipping channels, Thimble Shoals and the Chesapeake Channel. The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels.
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