By rosebell
In order to securing funding for the US$16bn Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP), the board authorised the Gateway Development Commission (GDC) to conclude a final agreement in September with the Federal Railroad Administration for a US$3.8bn Federal-State Partnership.
While the date that GDC applied for the grant was March 2023, the US$3.8bn requested was committed in November 2023 and at the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, Section 3 (HYCC-3) groundbreaking in November, Senator Charles Schumer announced that the grant would revise the HTP’s funding structure from a 50-50 to a 70-30 split between the federal government and the states, representing the largest ever federal commitment to a rail mass transit project.
According to New York GDC commissioner Alicia Glen, New Jersey GDC commission Balpreet Grewal-Virk, Amtrak commissioner Tony Coscia: “The FSP grant agreement will cap off the massive effort to get the Hudson Tunnel Project all of the funding it needs to be completed.”
With aim of increasing public engagement in the project, GDC has started up an EarthCam at the HYCC-3 site on Manhattan’s west side and a daily panoramic view of HYCC-3 construction progress on the GDC website will be provided through this camera. Additionally a similar EarthCam was established at the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and Utility Relocation Project construction site in New Jersey in April.
Connecting the new tunnel into New York Penn Station,HYCC-3 is an essential right-of-way preservation project and the current work at the HYCC-3 site includes secant guide wall and pile installation, jet grouting under the High Line, as well as demolition of the LIRR Emergency Services Building, which was relocated to clear the path for the new tunnel.
Also construction is undergoing at the Tonnelle Avenue Project site in North Bergen on a new road bridge that will carry Tonnelle Avenue over the new tunnel’s portal. While completing the early work to demolish the ARC Project’s remaining concrete abutments, concrete form work for the new bridge’s abutments is going to commence this week and excavation and lagging work is also in progress.
Considring that Phase 2 of the Hudson River Ground Stabilisation (HRGS) Project is preparing the riverbed for tunnel boring, after GDC’s authorisation to proceed, the large floating cranes in the Hudson River have started work on the test cofferdam for in-water work, whereas sheeting and pin pile installation are also under way. In February, GDC granted the HRGS contract to Weeks Marine.
