Gateway Development Commission awards tunnel boring contract, approves phase two of ground stabilization contract for Hudson Tunnel Project

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) Board of Commissioners took action on two contracts that will advance the Hudson River Tunnel Project (HTP). This is the second significant step forward for the project dubbed America’s most urgent transit infrastructure project in less than a month. In early July, GDC signed a Full Funding Agreement with the Federal Transit Administration through the Capital Investment Grants Program that will provide $6.88 billion to the project.

“When we signed the full funding grant agreement for the Hudson Tunnel Project in July, we said that construction would ramp up quickly. Today, we are following through on that commitment with dramatic steps forward for our first heavy construction and tunnel boring projects. Advancing both of these projects is a major step in the construction phase of the HTP, and we will maintain the disciplined process that enabled this achievement,” Alicia Glen, New York GDC commissioner and co-chair, Balpreet GrewalVirk, New Jersey GDC commissioner and co-chair and Tony Coscia, GDC Amtrak commissioner and vice chair said in a joint statement.

Tunnel boring contract

The first tunnel boring contract for the Hudson River Tunnel Project, the Palisades Tunnel Project Contract, was awarded to Schiavone Dragados Lane JV. The joint venture team was one of five proposals submitted for the $465.6 million design-bid-build contract.

The Palisades Tunnel Project consists of two separate tunnels each approximately 5,100-feet long and with an inside diameter of 25 feet, two inches. The tunnels will be excavated by tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with excavation commencing at the tunnel portal at the Tonnelle Avenue construction site and mining eastward into the Hudson County Shaft.

In addition to furnishing the TBMs, the joint venture team will install a precast concrete tunnel lining in the bored tunnel, construct six cross passages and construct the Hudson County Shaft.  

Second phase of Hudson River Ground Stabilization Project

The GDC Board of Commissioners also authorized a Notice to Proceed for Phase Two of the Hudson River Ground Stabilization (HRGS) Project. The HRGS Project will strengthen the riverbed in 1,200 feet of shallow area on the Manhattan side of the Hudson Tunnel. Weeks Marine, Inc., was awarded the contract for the project in February. Phase One of the heavy construction project began in 2024 and includes surveying, as well as design and construction of a test cofferdam. Phase Two, which is set to begin this fall, will include injecting grout into the silt on the riverbed to create columns of soil mixed with cement and water that will stabilize the ground above the future tunnel.

“Securing full funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project brought us to the point of no turning back. With the Board’s actions today, we complete the transition from planning this tunnel to building it, and we could not be off to a stronger start. I am thankful for our many partners in Washington, New York, and New Jersey who have worked with us to get to this point and for the GDC team whose hard work enabled us to lock in these contracts on time and within budget,” said GDC CEO Kris Kolluri.