The Gateway Development Commission selected Schiavone Dragados Lane JV for a $465.6 million contract to build the New Jersey side of the Hudson Tunnel project adding a rail link to New York City. The contract is the first of three plans GDC will award for tunneling work on the $16.1 billion project.
“It marks the largest contract the GDC board will consider, and it’s the most complex to date,” GDC CEO Kris Kolluri said during an Aug. 1 board meeting.
This phase of the Hudson Tunnel Project, called the Palisades Tunnel Project, includes construction of the western tunnel portal near the Tonnelle Avenue job site in North Bergen, boring a pair of 5,100-foot-long tunnels with a 25 feet 2 inches. inside diameter, excavating six cross passages and building a shaft in Hoboken, according to Jim Morrison, GDC technical director.
Gateway aims to start construction on the Palisades Tunnel project this year and finish it in 2027.
The GDC board also voted during the meeting to issue a notice to proceed to Weeks Marine Inc. for the second phase of $284 million in work for Hudson River soil stabilization work, which is needed on a portion of the river before the tunnel. The next works will consist of injecting grout into the silt of the riverbed. The first phase began earlier this year and the second phase is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
The planned tunnels would be used by NJ Transit and Amtrak trains. It is expected to enter service in 2035.
CEO search
The GDC board has begun the process to find a new CEO after Kolluri tendered his resignation last month, commission co-chairman Balpreet Grewal-Virk said during the meeting.
Kolluri had originally planned to step down effective Aug. 16, but has agreed to stay on for another 60 days to help with the transition, according to Grewal-Virk.
“Kris has been an incredible leader whose work has built an organization and partnership that will last with dedication, fairness and unwavering commitment,” he said. “His efforts have brought us to the point of no turning back on the nation’s most important and vital infrastructure project. We are grateful that he will be here as we move from planning to construction.”
Kolluri’s departure comes after GDC secured the last piece of funding for the project with a $6.9 billion Federal Transit Administration grant.
“When I tendered my resignation, I did so only because I thought it was the right time to leave, because we have achieved all the goals that we have set for ourselves in the last two years,” he said.
