Construction crews began work on getting the Port of Miami's tunnel project underway early Wednesday.
Through next Thursday contractors will pour about 900 trucks full of concrete at the site of the future tunnel, which will connect Watson Island to the port.
This is the first step in making way for the huge drilling project that will begin in October. The drilling alone is expected to last a year. After that officials hope to have the underwater tunnel built by 2014.
The $1 billion-plus project is meant to alleviate downtown truck traffic and enable container trucks to easily enter and exit the port.
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The project will result in twin tunnels, both 41 feet in diameter that will dip below Government Cut at a depth of 125 feet.
As larger cargo ships begin to arrive in Miami it will take more trucks to transport cargo to and from the Port of Miami. The new tunnels are designed to handle that volume plus eliminate the bottleneck that occurs daily in downtown Miami.
