This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
Bulldozers have been pounding along the Hudson River shoreline again this week.
Workers returned to jobs linked to one of the country’s most closely watched infrastructure megaprojects. However, the reactivation of construction activity may be temporary.
Construction was fully resumed at all locations in the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Projectconfirmed the Gateway Development Commission in an update Tuesday, after a federal funding conflict caused contractors to suspend work on the project on February 6.
Crews have since resumed activities that had been halted, including riverbed stabilization and tunnel preparation in New Jersey and New York City, according to the update.
“The Hudson Tunnel project is the nation’s most urgent passenger rail project, and GDC’s mission is to deliver it as quickly as possible,” GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said in the update. “Our workers are back and we are moving full steam ahead on all our works.”
But Prendergast also warned that the reboot could be short-lived. Without continued federal funding disbursements, GDC would have to halt construction again within two to three months.
“We will have no choice but to stop work again if the federal government does not continue to disburse the funds that are committed to the project,” Prendergast said. “This project is too important to delay.”
The back-and-forth over disbursements of federal funding already slowed key parts of the project backlog, according to the announcement. For example, contract awards for the Hudson River Tunnel, the centerpiece of the Hudson Tunnel project, and the New Jersey Surface Alignment remain on hold, according to GDC.
The latest update follows a period of uncertainty for the long-anticipated rail project. Last September, the DOT halted funding as part of a review of how the Gateway Project applied hiring goals based on race and sex under the federal disadvantaged business enterprise programa target of President Donald Trump’s war against what his administration calls “illegal DEI“
The move triggered a claim for breach of contract of the Gateway Development Commission after hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds went unpaid. A federal judge later ordered DOT to resume payments. This allowed immediate construction activity to resume, although uncertainty remains over the long-term work.
Construction milestones despite frozen funds
Amidst the tumult, contractors have still managed to check off certain construction milestones on the project.
For example, crews completed the Tonnelle Avenue bridge and utility relocation project in North Bergen, New Jersey. The bridge structure, substantially completed by the end of 2025, clears space under the roadway for TBMs.
Meanwhile, components for this first TBM recently arrived at the North Bergen site and are currently being prepared for assembly, according to the update. Components for a second TBM will begin arriving in March, according to the GDC.
Elsewhere, crews have also finished installing the slurry wall on the Hudson County Access Shaft. This part of the project creates a watertight perimeter for the underground shaft. Crews will begin excavations in the spring.
On the Manhattan side of the project, construction crews poured more than 11,000 cubic yards of concrete for the tunnel floor, known as an inverted slab. Installation of these tunnels is ongoing, according to the update.
