As work progresses on existing contracts of the $16.1-billion Hudson Tunnel Project between New York City and northern New Jersey, outgoing Gateway Development Commission CEO Kris Kolluri said during its Oct. 11 meeting that seven of the nine contract packages will be under construction or in procurement by Dec. 31.

“A significant amount of work is happening on site and in our finance department,” he said.

The tunnel under the Hudson River is planned to serve Amtrak and NJ Transit trains on the Northeast Corridor starting in 2035, when the existing North River Tunnel would undergo rehabilitation work.

Work on a bridge, which will carry road traffic over the New Jersey side approach to the rail tunnel, is about 48% complete, according to Hamed Nejad, commission acting chief technical officer. He also told commissioners that 65% of secant piles for the Hudson Yards concrete casing on the New York City side are complete, crews have begun underpinning the High Line walkway, and 17,000 tons of soil have been excavated to date. 

In the river, Nejad said crews have been working on a test section of the riverbed for stabilization and are preparing to start deep soil mixing.

Related to procurement, the commission issued a request for qualifications for construction of the center portion of the two-tube tunnel. Contract scope would include boring two 7,250-ft-long tunnels under the river with two pressurized face tunnel boring machines; lining them with precast concrete segmental tunnel lining that has a 25 ft, 2 in.-inside diameter; placing precast inverts in the under-river tunnel and in the 5,100-ft-long New Jersey side of the tunnel; constructing nine cross passages; and other work. 

Responses are due by Dec. 6, and Gateway leaders say they aim to have a contractor selected in 2026 to complete the work by spring 2029. 

The commission has planned to build the tunnel in three segments, along with other work separated into additional contract packages. It chose in August Schiavone Dragados Lane JV for a $465.6-million contract to build the New Jersey side of the tunnel, and earlier this year shortlisted three teams for the New York side. The shortlisted teams' responses are due next month.

The commission also plans to release an RFQ for surface alignment work on the New Jersey side in November and order tunnel boring machines in December, Kolluri said. 

The meeting was Kolluri’s last as commission CEO after he submitted his resignation over the summer following the project securing its final piece of funding. Kolluri stayed in his role until this month at the request of commissioners who have launched a search committee to find his replacement. Commissioners provided no updates on the search at the meeting.

Credits: ENR New York