Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
©
Five years after the state said it would spend millions to fix fire, safety and water systems in South Hampton Roads' network of commuter tunnels, the work remains unfinished.
That revelation comes as highway department officials probe equipment failures inside the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel that flooded the tube and snarled traffic for hours last Thursday.
The planned upgrades include installation of submersible pumps that work even when covered in water. Virginia Department of Transportation officials could not immediately say whether such pumps would have prevented or mitigated last week's problems. They said they hope to have answers about what caused the trouble in time for a public meeting Friday in Chesapeake.
One person who wants answers is Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim.
"If in fact the problem that caused the tunnel closure is related to a system that VDOT already knew was in bad repair, that would be an outrage," Fraim said Wednesday.
"If we're talking about the same system" he continued, "that would just compound everyone's total frustration with the inability of the commonwealth to provide an adequate transportation system."
A malfunction in another tunnel six years ago prompted a review of maintenance issues at the region's tubes.
A faulty floodgate at the Midtown Tunnel during 2003's Hurricane Isabel resulted in water damage that closed the structure for weeks. The blame was placed on negligent maintenance, which cost a transportation official his job.
So VDOT studied the matter, and in 2004, said it would replace outdated pumps in Hampton Roads' tunnels.
Then-Commissioner Philip Shucet said the most urgent "life safety and fire protection" systems would be addressed immediately.
To date, VDOT has replaced only the pumps at the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. Contracts for new pumps at the Downtown and Midtown tunnels have been awarded. Replacement work at HRBT is planned - exactly when, a VDOT spokeswoman couldn't say.
Officials said last week that a passing electrical storm may have caused a water main to malfunction. A subsequent leak flooded the pump house and disabled the device, resulting in water spilling into the tunnel, they said.
Last week's problem occurred as the state is replacing older pumps with submersible apparatuses. Different tunnel pumps are used to remove excess water from the structures and to maintain a flow of water through a network of pipes for fire protection.
Virginia has committed to about $60 million worth of upgrades - ventilation, lighting and drainage - for the four tunnels, said Lauren Hansen, a spokeswoman for VDOT.
Hansen could not say when the work will be finished, citing the uncertainty of project pacing. The timing of the work, she added, is a product of the detailed planning required before such projects can begin.
The updates "will bring those tunnels up to a set of national... standards for new tunnels," she said.
Federal government standards for tunnel inspection are not in place, so states maintain their own inspection programs. Hansen said officials regularly inspect state tunnels for safety.
If a leaky water main is the culprit in this saga, it wouldn't be the first time for HRBT.
Four years ago, a leak eroded a section of roadway in the tunnel, prompt ing workers to close a westbound lane in the tube for several hours. Last Thursday, the tunnel's westbound lanes were closed for much of the day.
The latest problem at HRBT reignites the long-running debate about expanding some of the main thoroughfares that cross waterways and connect the region's cities.
Such projects require billions that the state doesn't have, particularly in an economic climate that has seen Virginia's highway department slash its staff and its road building budget.
The legislature has failed to reach an accord on a transportation funding package to pay for road improvements.
"The system is crumbling because of a lack of revenue and a lack of political will to make the needed investments in the system," Fraim said.
Pilot writer Meghan Hoyer contributed to this article.
Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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RE: reality check
"2cents on Thu, 07/09/2009 at 11:28 am.
They haven't been able to cath up in eight years.....ha! So what is eight years of Obama going to do? Is this what you get from Democrats?"
Some of you won't waste a chance to blame Obama and or democrats for everything and anything. It used to be Clinton "did it", now it's Obama. What the heck fire does Obama have to do with out tunnels.
If you wna to throw blame check our GA, Congress/Senate and every politician we have.
Sound bite??
Oh no Paul Fraim would never do that! He would never take his resource allocation from VDOT to a neighborhood where a friend of his lives.....would he? Would you Paul? Norfolk spent more on waterside than danr near all the roadways combined.....especially Ocean View.
VDOT locally has been robbed for years to pay for the overspnding in Northern VA. I can recall many times when our area was asked where it could give up a project to fund for overspending for snow removal. Salt water is one of the most corrosive substances in the world. Ask any pipe or valve supplier to determine the life or a valve in salt water. Better yet, ask some of those people who live over there how often the replace sump pumps if they have them.
The sad answer is that it is always politics, countrywide, statewide and citywide...as always..
I don't care if I am redundant now,
You get what you pay for. What don't you understand about this basic reality? There is no other cause that does not stem from this fact. It wasn't this party or that party. This region or that. It was the something a for nothing attitude that is as prevalent in culs de sac lined with McMansions as is perceived to be in public housing. It was YOU collectively Tidewater! You had your chance and you blew it. Cowboy up and then pony up!
Not quite, George
We DID pay for road improvements in fuel taxes and tolls. We have many times over.
Our Highway trust fund money has been looted for other purposes like a subsidized transit system(15% of our fuel taxes) that will never pay its own way, plus the latest light rail boondoggle. That is in addition to funds that were "unused" at year end and borrowed for the General Fund, never to be repaid.
We have been held hostage here in Hampton Roads to an all-or-nothing MPO plan that would have done nothing for congestion and was planned as a subsidy for the Port of Virginia (which already gets a subsidy of 5% of our fuel taxes) and when we rightly rejected that theft, our gas tax money was instead spent on Northern Virginia. So, we are properly skeptical when told we need to pony up.
hostage since the Byrd Machine
The Southside has always received the short end. Mainly because of a legislature stocked with an inordinate amount of agrestic legislators with no interest in urban infastructure or development, they will take out more than their district put in, but could care less about cities. Frugal with state funds until you start talking about funding rural needs.
VDOT
It's business as usual at the most dysfunctional department in state government -- VDOT. They cry the most, waste more money and accomplish nothing. VDOT is a joke, always has been and unfortunately always will be, and nothing can fix it, not even new commissioners. One blogger was right: "You can't fix stupid!!!!!"
...safety and water systems in...
...South Hampton Roads' network of commuter tunnels...
As usual, we on the Peninsula (where??) are chopped liver. At a minimum, I mistakenly thought that the HRBT and MMBT served ALL of Hamp...(excuse me) GREATER NORFOLK!
The peninsula is just a place we pass through.
It's not even in the South according to the Farmers almanac. Just a bunch of Yankees. You wish you were chopped liver!
Midtown
The Midtown tunnel flooded because you can't hold back the Elizabeth River...is the gate water tight - I doubt it - I don't think it would have held back the swelling Elizabeth River during Isabel it would have just flooded slower. The gate was welded down because the motoring public was complaining that it made noice when they drove over it. I don't agree that was the best way to fix it, but even if there was a closure to the tunnel to fix it - people still complain...you can't have it both ways - sometimes they have to close the tunnel for routine maintenance and they always take into consideration the motoring public.
Things Happen
How many times has your car battery gone dead -things break - sometimes there is no warning. What most people don't realize is that some of these things are no longer VDOT's responsibility due to privatization, such as the road repairs and salting when there is a winter storm & electrical repairs. I think that VDOT is blamed for everything and it sometimes isn't their fault. One thing they fail to educate the motoring public. We do need another bridge rather than a tunnel - heaven forbid we need to evacuate quickly for an emergency! All of the tunnels move more cars than they were designed to handle. Stop privatizing the VDOT jobs (it doesn't save any money), hire enough people to do a proper job and hold VDOT management accountable all the way to Richmond. Someone mentioned we don't need office people doing these jobs but specialy trained people who know how to manage the day to day of the roads and tunnels.