Procurement for the $16.1 billion Hudson Tunnel project to build a passenger rail link between New York and New Jersey continues to move forward, as the Gateway Development Commission recently selected three teams for the tunnel portion of the project. manhattan Teams will be invited to submit proposals for design and construction work.
The scope of work included in this contract package includes the excavation of mine tunnels using the sequential excavation method from West 30th Street, under Hudson River Park and through the bulkhead of Manhattan’s West Side. The contract would also include ground stabilization work along the tunnel alignment, work on two construction shafts and the fastening of a culvert.
Gateway is a joint commission formed by New York and New Jersey to lead rail infrastructure projects between Newark, NJ and Manhattan. According to a notice from Gateway, shortlisted teams include joint ventures of Frontier-Kemper Constructors Inc., Tutor Perini Corp. and Hyundai America Inc.; Gateway Tunnel Partners, formed by Halmar International LLC and FCC Construction Inc.; and a joint venture of Skanska USA Civil Northeast Inc., Traylor Bros. Inc. and Walsh Construction Co. II LLC. Gateway plans to issue a request for proposals to all three teams this quarter.
The plan is to build a two-tube, 2.4-mile-long tunnel to improve the reliability of rail service along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and relieve pressure on the aging North River Tunnels, which are in need of repair but they are currently the only crossing of the Hudson River for passengers. trains between Northern New Jersey and New York’s Penn Station. The plan is to temporarily close the North River tunnels to rehabilitate them after the new tunnel is completed.
The Manhattan section of the tunnel would connect with a section of the tunnel that runs under the Hudson River between New York and Hoboken, NJ, which is expected to be awarded in a separate contract. Gateway selected three crews last August to work to stabilize the riverbed before tunneling that section. Gateway also selected five teams last October for the New Jersey Palisades portion of the tunnel. The proposals of these teams will be presented at the end of this year. Another contract is expected to follow, covering the complete fit-out of the tunnel.
Gateway is also nearing the selection of its delivery partner, who will assist with various planning and management services throughout the project.
Two other non-tunnel contract packages are currently under construction. One covers the construction of a concrete shell at Hudson Yards in Manhattan, and the scope of the other includes the construction of a bridge to carry an existing road over the planned railroad right-of-way approaching the portal of the New Jersey tunnel.
The project is scheduled to end in 2038.
