New York’s massive Hudson Tunnel Project awards TBM contract

Aerial view of Manhatten, New York City, New York, US. (Image: Adobe Stock)

Schiavone is a US-based contractor and construction company that was acquired by Dragados Inversiones USA (DI USA) in 2007.

DI USA is a subsidiary of Spain-based Dragados, which serves as the construction arm of Spanish ACS Group – a civil engineering, construction, and telecommunications company.

The value of the contract is around US$465 million for the Palisades-segment of work, and construction is expected to start in the coming weeks. An additional 5% of the contract price could be earned by the JV if they meet all contract contingencies.

About the Palisades and Hudson Tunnel projects

The GDC said the Palisades Tunnel scheme seeks to install two separate tunnels on the New Jersey side of the project. Each tunnel will be approximately 5,100 feet (1,554m) long with an inside diameter of 25 feet and two inches (7.7m).

Render of the TBM route for the Palisades Tunnel Project. (Image: Gateway Development Commission)

Excavation will be done by tunnel boring machines (TBMs) through interlayered sedimentary rock types that include sandstone, argillite, shale, and siltstone.

“The Palisades Tunnel TBMs will need to be capable of excavating hard rock,” summarised GDC.

The two tubes will eventually connect with the grander Hudson Tunnel Project construction, which will route an under-river vehicle passage between New York state and New Jersey state.

The project description noted that the signed contractor would provide a pair of TBMs for the build.

The commission also noted that a precast concrete segmental tunnel lining system is required, as well as the construction of six cross passages between the tunnel portal located in North Bergen, New Jersey, and the Hoboken Shaft (also in New Jersey).

“These cross passages are expected to be excavated [by] running two separate tunnels of the Palisades Tunnel by conventional drill and blast techniques,” said the project description.

Render of the sheet piles that will be installed as part of the Hudson Tunnel Project. (Image: Gateway Development Commission)

Finally, the project also involves building the new Hudson County Shaft, which will be used to remove the TBMs once digging is complete, said GDC.

Completion on the Palisades work is expected in spring of 2027.

More work to come on Hudson Tunnel Project

After securing all the needed funding just last month, a bevy of construction work is expected in the coming months and years on the major infrastructure scheme, which got its initial start last November.

JV Mace-Parsons-Arcadis (MPA Delivery Partners) received the general contract in February.

In announcing the Palisades contact, GDC also noted it received approval for another portion of the Hudson Tunnel Project: Phase two of the Hudson River Ground Stabilization (HRGS) programme. Phase one is currently underway and set to finish this fall, while phase two is planned to conclude in 2027.

Week Marine – a New Jersey-based marine construction and dredging contractor and subsidiary of US-based Kiewit – received the HRGS two-phase contract in the amount of $284 million. Announced in February, GDC said this was the first heavy construction contract for the HRGS Project.

“Phase one of the project… includes surveying and the design and construction of a test cofferdam,” said GDC. “Phase two will be performed from Fall 2024 to Spring 2027 and includes the design and construction of remaining work related to the HRGS Project.”

The work will inject a mix of soil, concrete, and water to stabilise the riverbed along 1,200 feet (366m) of the shallow portions on the Manhattan, New York, side of the Hudson River. By creating columns of soil mixed with cement and water the project seeks to steady the ground that will be above the future tunnels.

The entire Hudson Tunnel Project is expected to finish by 2038.

Read more about the massive infrastructure scheme here.