New York’s Hudson Tunnel project is entering the engineering phase after carrying out 75 geotechnical investigations, 37 of which were undertaken during a supplemental geotechnical boring programme.
The finished geotechnical investigations reduce risk and give the project team certainty on where and how to dig a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
The Hudson Tunnel project includes refurbishment of the existing 111-year-old North River Tunnel, as well as building a new underground crossing to double the number of tracks travelling beneath the Hudson River.
Works will also include completion of a concrete casing on the west side of Manhattan and replacement of the Portal Bridge.
The tunnel is part of the Gateway rail investment programme. The Gateway Program Development Corporation (GDC) – a partnership of the states of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak – oversees delivery of the programme, with support from partner agencies.
The programme is currently seeking an additional US$5.6bn (£4.2bn) federal transit administration capital investment grant based on the phase two engineering works.
In September 2021 it was revealed that the cost of the Hudson Tunnel project had risen by US$700M (£510M) since the previous year.
In total, the project has completed 75 geotechnical investigations. These included 64 borings in New Jersey and New York over several years, 37 of which were during the recently completed phase two supplemental geotechnical boring programme planned based on input from the private sector.
The samples obtained from the borings will inform the design and engineering planning for full construction of the project.
The project also completed five cone penetration tests, four seismic cone penetration tests, a marine geophysical survey in the Hudson River, and a surface based geophysical survey along the Hudson Bergen Light Rail tracks in New Jersey.
The borings were completed in Secaucus, New Jersey, along the future above-ground alignment, in Union City, New Jersey, and along the future Palisades Tunnel alignment, at the Hoboken Project Site.
Boring works were also carried out along the future Hudson River Tunnel alignment under the Hudson River, and in Manhattan, New York, at the Hudson River Park and at the 12th Avenue Project Site. Samples were taken at depths ranging from 14m to 153m.
In a joint statement, Gateway Development Commission co-chairs Steven M. Cohen and Balpreet Grewal-Virk of New Jersey, and vice-chair Tony Coscia said: "This work is another example of our partners working together to advance the tunnel project as far as we possibly can in preparation for full funding and construction.
"From building two sections of the tunnel casing in Manhattan, to advancing the design of the project to 30%, to achieving all the project's regulatory approvals to completing this geotechnical work, we and our partners have shown over and over that no obstacle will stand in the way of finally delivering 21st Century rail transportation between New York and New Jersey."
The Gateway Program put in a request for information process during 2017-2019, inviting the private sector to hear updates on the project. As part of that process, in 2019, the Gateway Program invited the private sector to comment on its plan for the Hudson Tunnel Project's phase two supplemental geotechnical boring programme.
The Gateway partners refined the phase two boring programme by incorporating private sector feedback on additional geotechnical boring locations, geotechnical investigations and laboratory testing.
A total of 27 borings and five cone penetration tests were conducted during the Hudson Tunnel Project's previous geotechnical investigation phases, as well as numerous geotechnical investigations conducted as part of the access to the region's core project and historical records.
Last November, the project entered a preliminary engineering phase, after the US signed its long-awaited infrastructure bill into law.
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