Now, the remains of a humongous ice age animal have been found near a spot that thousands of motorists drive past every day. Workers recently unearthed around a dozen pieces of a mastodon skeleton while digging at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project.

“This is the stuff they don’t teach in engineering school,” said Ryan Banas, project director.

Soon, residents and travelers will be able to view the bones and other artifacts at a new project visitor’s center in Norfolk.

Workers at the project got very lucky discovering the bones in the fall of 2023, Banas said. A worker noticed something odd while looking at a conveyor belt at the slurry treatment plant, which is located on the project’s South Island.

Banas said the plant moves fast, processing 16,000 gallons of slurry a minute.

“So, the fact that we had one of our staff members that was able to catch a glimpse is pretty, pretty darn impressive,” Banas said.

The bones, which are anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 years old, include ribs, vertebrae, a tooth the size of a small hand and part of a limb, Banas said.

Back then, lower sea levels meant the land near the HRBT would have likely been a forest, said Zaborniak, making it a perfect foraging ground for the mastodons.

Very similar in appearance to wooly mammoths or modern-day elephants, the creatures spent much of their day looking for food, he said. They were anywhere from 7 to 10 feet tall with large tusks and weighed around 6 tons.

Elephants and mammoths had flat teeth built for chomping down on grass, Zaborniak said.

“Mastodons, on the other hand, have very large ridges on their teeth, which are great for browsing,” he said. “So these animals are going to be eating plants such as leaves, pine needles and fruits.”

There is some evidence of social behavior, he said, but it’s likely male mastodons were solitary creatures. The animals had a wide range across North America, he added. Early humans also would have potentially crossed paths with them, he said, but it would have taken several people to hunt one.

Other mastodon bones have been found in Hampton Roads: the Virginia Living Museum possesses much of a skeleton that was discovered in Yorktown over a period of several years, according to a previous report by The Virginian-Pilot.

The $3.9 billion HRBT expansion project will double the road’s capacity, from two to four lanes in each direction, and add two two-lane tunnels. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.

Similar construction work elsewhere in the region has also turned up interesting historical finds. In 2023, workers on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel expansion project dug up an old ship anchor buried beneath the shipping channel. Work was delayed for several months, and resumed in April, so the 10-foot anchor could be excavated.

HRBT project spokesperson Paula Miller said the mastodon discovery was not expected to delay that project’s construction timeline.

Other artifacts unearthed by the HRBT project and now housed at the visitor’s center include two Civil War-era cannonballs, a World War II-era helmet liner and pieces of an old shipwreck, Banas said. Project leaders hope to open the visitor’s center, located at 9401 4th St. in Norfolk, in September.

“These are all things that are super, super interesting, that help you appreciate what came before us,” Banas said.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com

A man carrying luggage jogged up and started asking questions.

“Oh, you need to go downstairs to check your bag,” Bradway said with a smile. “Yes, downstairs. Down that way.”

The man looked relieved and hustled away toward the escalators.

Norfolk International has 28 airport ambassadors, mostly retirees, who volunteer to soothe the nerves of frazzled travelers. Ambassadors wear mint green, hard-to-miss shirts while they stand throughout the terminal. They keep travelers moving and, in turn, help the efficiency needed in an airport. Their work has become more crucial. The airport expects to exceed 5 million travelers by the end of 2024, a record.

“They’re the airport’s face to the community,” said airport CEO Mark Perryman, “our face to our passengers.”

The program started in 2000 and has grown with the number of people flying in and out. Since 2022, the airport has hit a record each year. More than 4 million people traveled through in 2022; the following year, about 4.5 million.

Bradway, a retired business executive who lives in Virginia Beach, started as an ambassador in 2017 and enjoys bumping into former colleagues who still go on business trips.

“I’ll end up having a conversation with somebody I’ve known for 20 or 30 years,” he said.

He’s also happy to answer what he called the four most common questions for ambassadors: Where are rental cars? Are there places to eat beyond security? Where are the bathrooms? Which gate do I go to?

“Sometimes, you get, ‘Is there somewhere I can take my dog out?'” He’ll show them to an outside area.

Then again, not all travelers have needs that are so simple.

Vera Cornish, a 78-year-old retired educator from Virginia Beach, remembers a woman who declared to her: I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. The woman and her children had missed their flight and didn’t have much money, Cornish recalled.  She led them to the airport’s “family room,” which has a bathroom, changing table and comfy chair. She told the woman to lock the door and take a nap. By the time the woman woke up, Cornish had called a friend who allowed the woman and her kids to stay the night until they could board a flight the next morning.

Another time, Cornish enlisted her husband to help a traveler find her car after she forgot where it was in the parking deck.

“We searched for two hours,” Cornish said. “But I’m glad we found the car.”

After retiring from a 48-year career at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2018, Bill Morehead needed something to get him out of the house.

“My wife was telling me I was getting to be too much underneath her feet.”

Now 67, Morehead said the people-watching opportunities are too good to give up. He’s seen a man get on one knee and propose. He’s worked on Halloweens when people dressed as Godzilla and Barney cheered up children nervous about flying. He once saw hundreds of strangers begin to cry when a serviceman sneaked up on his relative after months away on duty.

“We see everything here.”

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com

Mayor Donnie Tuck spoke of the impending camera fees during his final town hall meeting Thursday at the American Theatre.

The red-light cameras are meant to deter drivers from clogging city streets when traffic from the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and Interstate 64 backs up. Tuck said these will become active in early August, potentially as soon as Thursday. The first red-light cameras expected to go live include two on Mallory Street — one near Segar Street and one on the other side of the bridge — and one at the intersection of Settlers Landing Road and William R. Harvey Way.

The cameras will monitor drivers running a red light and turning right on red when prohibited. Public Works Director Jason Mitchell previously laid out a plan to direct traffic along Settlers Landing Road, which connects downtown to I-64, into three lanes.

In the left lane, traffic would travel toward Phoebus and I-64 West. In the right lane, traffic would turn right onto the Hampton University campus or Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

During most hours of the day, the middle lane would allow traffic onto the I-64 East ramp; however, during the most busy traffic hours of 3-6 p.m., the light would remain red as a deterrent for drivers looking to hop on and off the interstate to skirt traffic.

Tuck said there will be a 30-day warning period once the cameras go live. Afterward, drivers found guilty of crossing a red light based on video evidence would receive a $50 fine. However, a conviction will not result in any points being added to the person’s driving record.

There also soon will be consequences for those caught speeding through school zones, designated with a posted speed limit of 25 mph with flashing warning signs to indicate that children and pedestrians are actively crossing roadways. Those who go 10 mph or more over the speed limit will face an up to $100 fine.

The city is establishing a year-long pilot program that will install speed cameras at 12 locations before the beginning of the school year, which starts Aug. 26.

According to Mitchell, the 12 locations are Big Bethel High School, Hampton High School, Hunter B. Andrews Pre-K, Jones Magnet Middle School, Kecoughtan High School, Lindsay Middle School, Machen Elementary School, Mary W. Jackson Elementary School, Thomas Eaton Middle School, Aberdeen Elementary School, Barron Elementary School and William Mason Cooper Elementary School.

The city also has three alternate locations — Alfred S. Forrest Elementary School, Samuel P. Langley Elementary School, and Mary T Christian Elementary School — that may be used if it runs into any significant issues during the deployment process.

A law enforcement officer will review and affirm all speeding violations issued through technology, and a citation will be processed and mailed to the vehicle owner.

While the pilot program is slated to last a year, the city has budgeted enough money — $3.4 million — to possibly expand the speed cameras to all 34 school zones. Because revenue from violations are expected to offset the cost of the cameras, the program is expected to pay for itself.

Mitchell said there will be a 30-day warning period from when the first school cameras go live before the city enforces fines. Mitchell said the goal is to have as many of the initial 12 cameras ready by the opening of the school year, although he said it’s likely that only seven may be.

During the town hall, many residents raised concerns about speeding in other parts of the city — including several residential neighborhoods — and asked if the city could implement speed cameras beyond school zones.

City Manager Mary Bunting said the city only has the authority to put speed cameras in school and work zones, as the state legislature allows. However, she said when the city prepares its legislative priorities to send to the General Assembly, it could consider requesting to expand the use of speed cameras. Bunting said speed cameras would help deter drivers from going far over the speed limit, and would allow police officers to focus on more violent crime.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com

The city plans to improve a section of Route 460 as part of a $86.8 million road project. City leaders say it will increase capacity on a major roadway near the planned 10 building, 5-million-square-foot Port 460 warehouse complex. The road project will get $30.1 million from the state’s Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.

“This significant allocation of Transportation Partnership Opportunity Funds by the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board provides a rare opportunity to address a projected traffic mitigation concern before it becomes a major issue,” said Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman in a July 16 announcement.

The project would widen a 2.3-mile section of Route 460, from the Route 58 bypass to Lake Prince Drive, as well as redesign the Route 460 and 58 interchange.

The roadway project follows public criticism of the huge warehouse development, which is planned near the interchange. After a 2022 City Council vote to rezone the property to allow the development, Duman told The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press about 41% of the complaints revolved around its impact on traffic.

Some community residents mobilized a local opposition group to the warehouse, called Citizens Voice, and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to stop the development.

Group spokesperson and Suffolk resident Denise Murden said they were happy the roadway project was being funded.

“If the project is going to go there, it’s absolutely essential,” Murden said.

Beyond the state funding, the project has also received $6.6 million from Matan, the developer who will build the warehouse project, $1 million from the Port of Virginia, and $1 million from the city of Suffolk, Deputy City Manager Kevin Hughes said in an email.

With the project about halfway funded, Hughes said the city plans to fund the remainder locally while applying for additional state and federal grant money.

Hughes said city officials hope to begin construction in late 2026. The first Port 460 building is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2025, according to the project website.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com

The airline said Thursday that it has been studying customer preferences and expectations and is making the changes because of what they’ve heard, but it could also generate revenue and boost financial performance.

While Southwest has used an open seating model for 50 years, the company said that it understands that preferences have changed, with more customers taking longer flights and wanting an assigned seat.

The airline is said it will offer redeye flights for the first time.

Southwest said that its first overnight, redeye flights will land on Feb. 14, 2025 in nonstop markets that include Las Vegas to Baltimore and Orlando; Los Angeles to Baltimore and Nashville; and Phoenix to Baltimore. It plans to phase in additional redeye flights over time.

VDOT said in an email late Friday that work on pedestrian walkways still needed to be finished, and weather conditions created further delays. Once walkways are completed, traffic on Interstate 64 will be diverted onto the new segment of the Mallory Street Bridge in Hampton as part of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project.

Switching to the new segment will allow traffic to continue while crews demolish the rest of the old bridge and rebuild it.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike reported the issue behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. The company said the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows.

Flights at Norfolk International Airport were facing “major delays,” according to FlightView, a website that tracks flights and airports across the United States. The tracker reported that more than half of departing flights were delayed as of 7:40 a.m. Friday.

By 9:45 a.m., the airport said airline systems were coming back online, but the morning’s outage would affect flights throughout the day. About 20 flights were canceled Friday morning. Kellie Bryant arrived in Norfolk about 4:30 a.m. from Smithfield with daughters Ashley and Katelyn to catch a connecting flight to Washington. Their final destination was Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for a girls’ beach trip.

“(Something was wrong) when we walked downstairs and realized how long the line was for checking baggage,” Katelyn said. “We waited three hours, got up (to the desk) and we couldn’t even check in. We tried to reach United, and they were not helping us at all, so we just missed our flight because we couldn’t check in.”

After several hours of delays and confusion, the Bryants will now fly out of Raleigh on Saturday.

The outage also affected communications for inmates at Hampton Roads jails. The Norfolk and Virginia Beach sheriff’s offices posted around midday Friday that their inmates were unable to make or receive phone calls.

WTKR News 3, a reporting partner of The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, also reported issues as a result of the outage. According to a post to X the outage prevented the station from going live Friday morning, and in-house engineers worked to resolve issues for viewers.

For Dominion Energy, customer service call centers also were affected. Customers can still use the Dominion app and website to report outages, manage their accounts and pay bills. The Norfolk Tides asked fans to use the team’s website to buy tickets, or to pay in cash at the box office.

The projects range from coast to coast, with the largest providing an additional $1.4 billion to help replace two vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River that carry Interstate 5 traffic between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The bridges, which also received $600 million in December, are “the worst trucking bottleneck” in the region, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.

Other projects receiving $500 million or more include the Sagamore Bridge in in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; an Interstate 10 bridge project in Mobile, Alabama; and the Interstate 83 South bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which Buttigieg planned to highlight Wednesday with a visit.

“These bridges affect whole regions and ultimately impact the entire U.S. economy,” Buttigieg said. “Their condition means they need major urgent investment to help keep people safe and to keep our supply chains running smoothly.”

The grants come from a $1.2 trillion infrastructure law signed by Biden in 2021 that directed $40 billion to bridges over five years — the largest dedicated bridge investment in decades. Biden has been touting the infrastructure law while campaigning for reelection against former President Donald Trump.

But even Wednesday’s large grants will make only a dent in what the American Road & Transportation Builders Association estimates to be $319 billion of needed bridge repairs across the U.S.

About 42,400 bridges are in poor condition nationwide, yet they carry about 167 million vehicles each day, according to the federal government. Four-fifths of those bridges have problems with the substructures that hold them up or the superstructures that support their load. And more than 15,800 of the poor bridges also were listed in poor shape a decade ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The nation’s poor bridges are on average 70 years old.

Bridges fulfill a vital role that often goes overlooked until their closure disrupts people’s commutes and delays commerce. That was tragically highlighted in March when a cargo ship crashed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, causing the bridge to crumple into the water and killing six road crew workers. Maryland officials have said it could take four years and up to $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge.

Some of the projects announced Wednesday include multiple bridges, such as a $251 million grant to improve 15 bridges around Providence, Rhode Island. That project is separate from one to replace the Interstate 195 Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River, which was suddenly closed to traffic late last year because of structural problems.

In Florida, Miami-Dade County will receive $101 million to replace 11 Venetian Causeway bridges that are nearly a century old.

Other bridge projects receiving funding include the Interstate 55 bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Arkansas and Tennessee; the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Wilmington, North Carolina; four bridges carrying Interstate 95 over Lake Marion in South Carolina; the U.S. 70 bridge over Lake Texoma in Oklahoma; two bridges carrying Interstate 25 over Nogal Canyon in New Mexico; the 18th Street bridge in Kansas City, Kansas; and the Market Street bridge over the Ohio River connecting Steubenville, Ohio, with East Steubenville, West Virginia.