NEW YORK — The agency overseeing construction of the new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan on Monday awarded a $1.8 billion contract for the connection on the tunnel’s New York side.
NorthJersey.com reports that the Gateway Development Commission awarded the contract to a joint venture of Frontier, Kemper, Tutor, and Perini because of a plan by that group that could save nine months in construction time, according to the commission’s acting chief technical officer, Hamed Nejad.
The Manhattan Tunnel Project contract calls for construction of 700 feet of twin 30-foot-diameter tunnels at the Manhattan side of the Hudson, connecting them with the tunnel shaft already under construction in the Hudson Yards area [see “Hudson Tunnel project lands more federal funding …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 4, 2023]. It also requires construction of an access shaft at 12th Avenue that will eventually become part of the tunnel’s ventilation system.
The newly awarded contract will deal with sewer and utility lines, wooden piles dating to the 1800s, landfill, and potential unknown obstacles. Nejad told the NorthJersey.com that the project is “risky” because of the unknowns, and cited similar projects that have experienced significant and costly delays when they encountered unexpected obstacles.
“The Manhattan Tunnel Project is one of the most technically complex pieces of the [Hudson Tunnel],” commission CEO Tom Prednergast said in a press release. “Building anything underground in Manhattan requires careful planning and expert execution, as I
know from overseeing multiple subway expansion projects. I look forward to working together with the Frontier-Kemper-Tutor-Perini team, as well as GDC’s partners on Manhattan’s West Side, to complete this critical component of this vital infrastructure project.”
The joint venture has proposed a method that will avoid the construction of two temporary shafts, using a small tunnel boring machine to create a path for larger boring machines.
