‘A CHANCE TO SHINE’
HRBT expansion project gives local contractors an opportunity to show off their work
When drivers cruise by the massive Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project, they might see the handiwork of Susan Ritter’s team.
Her Chesapeake company, Bryant-Ritter Electric Corp., has completed various electrical work on the bridge-tunnel project, including overhead sign structures. The biggest challenge for her team so far has been the massive scope of the project.
“It’s lots of moving part and pieces, so the coordination is a challenge,” she said.
The largest transportation infrastructure project in Virginia history is employing hundreds of subcontractors through federal and state programs. Some of the business owners say those programs are vital to their existence and future growth, helping them afford new equipment and score bigger contracts.
The $3.9 billion expansion project will widen the Interstate 64 bridge-tunnel connecting Norfolk and the Virginia Peninsula from four to eight lanes, adding two more tunnels to the waterway connecting the two landmasses by November 2025. The project will help reduce traffic congestion on the road, where the Virginia Department of Transportation says backups can sometimes stretch for more than 6 miles.
More than $500 million in 326 contracts have been awarded through the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program and the Virginia Small, Womenowned, and Minority-owned Business program, according to prime contractor Hampton Roads Connector Partners. Hampton Roads businesses account for about half of those contracts, and 81% of the selected companies are based in Virginia.
To qualify for the programs,
businesses must meet requirements related to ownership, number of employees and revenue.
“I sometimes still don’t get the opportunity to show my work,” said Andre Gilliam, owner of Metals of Distinction in Hampton. “And when there are opportunities like this — when DBE goals have to be met, and I’m given these opportunities, I get a chance to shine and show people what I really can do.”
As of Feb. 1, Hampton Roads Connector Partners reported it was close to the goal of awarding 12% of contracts to disadvantaged businesses and 20% to small, women-owned or minority-owned firms. The project’s minority workforce participation of 57% is exceeding its 27.1% goal and its women’s workforce participation of 14% is surpassing its 6.9% goal.
Gilliam’s company, with 15 employees, works on metal fabrication and welding projects. A graduate of Newport News Shipbuilding’s Apprentice School, he purchased his business from his father in 1999.
For the bridge-tunnel project, his team is welding materials that are part of the huge $101 million tunnel boring machine that is digging two tunnels into the Chesapeake Bay. Their $2.4 million in contracts also include welding work on a temporary structure for traffic as the new road is completed.
Gilliam said sometimes it’s a challenge to find enough welders to complete the work, but he’s still been able to fill positions in a timely fashion. The business describes its contribution to the creation of the base underneath a large crane as another success.
He said he’s grateful to be able to afford new equipment through his contract. The gratitude goes both ways.
“He has been so reliable, consistent and resourceful, you know, in a way that I think only a really close business that really knows the area and really knows what they’re doing can do,” said Malcolm Kates, a compliance manager for the project.
Ritter said she was proud of her team’s specialized work to accommodate for the region’s soil makeup, which is different from other areas of Virginia. Her company has a $12 million contract for its bridge-tunnel work with a crew of 70 employees.
She said encouragement from the prime contractor and the project’s disadvantaged business enterprise program representatives boosted her confidence.
“It goes a long way to helping us feel like, ‘Yeah, we can get this done,’ ” Ritter said.
With the earnings from her bridge-tunnel contract, Ritter said she was in a position to purchase a crane that can lift 100 tons — enough to catapult the small business into another echelon of contracting work.