Dive Brief:
- The Gateway Development Commission awarded a Traylor Bros., Walsh and Skanska joint venture a $1.29 billion design-bid-build contract on the Hudson Tunnel Project, according to a Monday release.
- The contract, dubbed Package 1C, covers roughly 1.5 miles of twin tunnel boring under the Hudson River, the longest continuous stretch of excavation on the project.
- The award marks an important milestone after a turbulent stretch for the project, including a funding dispute that forced contractors to halt work earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
The Gateway Development Commission warned last month construction on the massive infrastructure effort could stall again in a few months without certainty around federal funding.
The Package 1C contract advances the final tunneling segment beneath the Hudson River and pushes the $16 billion infrastructure program closer to full buildout. Six of the 10 construction packages that make up the Hudson Tunnel Project are now in progress or complete, according to the Gateway Development Commission.
“When we award this contract, every inch of tunnel boring needed to build the new tunnels will be under construction,” said GDC CEO Tom Prendergast during a Monday board meeting. “More than half of the Hudson Tunnel Project construction packages will be completed or in progress. It has taken years of planning and tens of thousands of hours of labor to reach this point.”
The Package 1C portion marks the third of three construction packages that involve the construction of new tunnel tubes. The Palisades Tunnel Project is package 1A and the Manhattan Tunnel Project is Package 1B, said Prendergast.
He also said work on the Palisades Tunnel Project in North Bergen, New Jersey, continues to take shape as crews prepare for tunnel boring machines, each about 500 feet long.
Meanwhile, on the Manhattan Tunnel Project, teams have completed most of the slurry wall and are advancing ground stabilization efforts, said Jim Starace, GDC chief of program delivery. That includes grouting and ground freezing to create a stable path for the tunnel boring machines beneath 12th Avenue, he added.
“We have five projects in construction, and after today’s award, we will have six,” said Starace during the meeting. “Progress continues.”
Package 1C marks one of the most technically demanding portions of the project, added Starace.
As part of this segment, Evansville, Indiana-based Traylor, Chicago-based Walsh and New York City-based Skanska USA will bore two parallel tunnel tubes beneath the Hudson River.
Work will include the installation of roughly 14,500 segments to form more than 2,400 tunnel rings, along with cross passages connecting the tubes at regular intervals. Scope also entails ground stabilization beneath existing rail infrastructure in New Jersey and the support of nearby structures such as the Willow Avenue viaduct, said Starace.
“Package 1C is a large, highly technical project,” said Starace during the board meeting. “There are few firms with the resources and technical expertise to take on this uniquely challenging project.”
