The replacement tunnel, located under Runway 18C-36C, increased the width to accommodate three westbound and four eastbound lanes and increased the vertical clearance as well.

A seven-lane wide, cut-and-cover tunnel that is 300 feet longer and has a two foot greater vertical clearance than the existing tunnel was designed. The longer tunnel was needed in order to accommodate the Memphis International Airport’s World Runway reconstruction program and the addition of a second parallel taxiway. The additional 300 feet of tunnel length was constructed first to accommodate the additional parallel taxiway. This taxiway needed to be constructed and operational before the demolition of the existing tunnel was allowed, in order that aircraft could access both sides of the airport