The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has awarded the $1.18bn (£951M) contract for the Manhattan Tunnel Project to the joint venture of Frontier-Kemper and Tutor Perini, a significant step in the ongoing $16bn (£13bn) Hudson Tunnel Project.

The Hudson Tunnel Project is the key section of the Gateway Programme, which is a comprehensive rail infrastructure investment aimed at boosting the reliability and resilience of connections between Newark, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in New York City. It is set to enhance capacity along the Northeast Corridor, the busiest passenger rail line in the United States.

Construction on the Hudson Tunnel Project is set to start in the coming months, with an estimated completion date of 2029. Preliminary estimates by EY suggest that the project will generate around 15,800 jobs, offering a substantial boost to local employment opportunities amid ongoing infrastructure challenges.

The Manhattan Tunnel Project will involve the construction of approximately 213m of twin tunnels each measuring 9.1m in diameter, extending from the Manhattan Bulkhead in the Hudson River to the cut-and-cover Hudson Yards Concrete Casing situated east of 12th Avenue. This project will not only see the establishment of new tunnelling sections but also for ensure the safe navigation of existing utilities and sewer lines beneath Manhattan.

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The portion between the Manhattan Bulkhead and 12th Avenue will be a temporary tunnel shell with the primary purpose of clearing the pathway for the future final tunnel to be installed by tunnel boring machines (TBMs). These could include remnants of pile foundations from the West Side Highway collapse in 1973 and historic debris, since the area is known for its archeological and structural complexities.

The project also includes designing and building an access shaft at 12th Avenue that will ultimately be converted into a permanent ventilation facility for the new tunnel.

To facilitate the intricate tunnelling tasks, Frontier-Kemper-Tutor-Perini JV plans to utilise a protective digging shield, allowing for a majority of the construction work to occur underground. This strategy is expected to mitigate disruption to surface roads and pedestrian pathways, enhancing safety throughout the process.

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The selection of Frontier-Kemper-Tutor-Perini JV followed a competitive bidding process, where technical proposals and pricing were scrutinsed by an Evaluation Panel comprising representatives from GDC, New York State, NJ Transit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. The total contract price approved by the GDC Board amounts to $1.18bn.

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Additionally, the Board has instituted a stipend programme aimed at aiding the procurement process for the New Jersey Surface Alignment (NJSA) Project, which involves the construction of approximately 2.3km of above-ground viaduct and trackway alongside the existing Northeast Corridor. The stipend programme will compensate teams that submit bidding proposals but do not secure the contract, encouraging innovative ideas and thorough planning in a highly complex project environment. GDC will retain rights to any intellectual property arising from these proposals, ensuring the commission can benefit from the submitted concepts long-term.

The tunnel boring contract for the Palisades Tunnel, another section of the Hudson Tunnel Project, was won by Schiavone Dragados Lane JV last summer.

US senator Charles Schumer said: “Today’s contract award for the Manhattan Tunnel Project represents another major milestone for the Gateway Program. As I’ve said before – we are all systems go! The Hudson Tunnel Project and its approaches are vital to the economic health and resilience of New York.”

In a joint statement, New York GDC commissioner and co-chair Alicia Glen, New York GDC commissioner and co-chair Balpreet GrewalVirk and GDC Amtrak commissioner and vice chair Tony Coscia said: “The Manhattan Tunnel Project contract is an important step forward for the HTP that keeps us on pace to deliver the most urgent infrastructure project in the country. Even more important, it is a major win for workers. In the months and years ahead, this project will create thousands of good jobs and drive millions in economic activity. These workers will join the more than 7,500 construction workers who are already building other HTP projects. These men and women are working hard to deliver for us, and it is important that we keep this project moving forward for them.”

GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said: “I am proud to begin my tenure as CEO of GDC by awarding this contract to a highly qualified team that I am confident will successfully deliver this vital aspect of the HTP. The Manhattan Tunnel Project is one of the most technically complex pieces of the HTP. 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.”

In February last year, a joint venture of Mace, Parsons and Arcadis, known as MPA Delivery Partners, was selected by GDC as delivery partner on the project.

In March 2024, NCE spoke to a key member of the project team about how early designs and plans for the new tunnel were taking learnings from similar tunnelling projects that have been constructed in London and the UK.

Cowi has also been carrying out ground stabilisation in the Hudson River for the project.

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