By rosebell
A contract for the Hudson River Ground Stabilisation Project (HRGS), which is 3.8km twin-tube rail tunnel and connects New York and New Jersey, has been concluded by engineering consultancy COWI.
Responsibility of serving as the engineer of record for the project, which is led by Weeks Marine, a marine construction and dredging company, will be up to COWI as part of the contract. Being awarded by the Gateway Development Commission as part of the Hudson Tunnel Project, the HRGS project represents the first major construction contract.
The stabilisation work on the Hudson River will prepare the riverbed on its eastern side for future construction of a 3.8km twin-tube rail tunnel that will link New York and New Jersey.
Additionally, creating a containment structure is up to COWI as the project’s design manager, whereas this structure is due to enable deep soil mixing work to proceed and prevent sediment stirred up by the mixing operations from dispersing into the river.
The containment structure that are going to be designed to withstand river currents and storm events and allow for tidal movements of up to 5ft each day, are located at depths of 40-50ft.
Coworker of COWI during covering a 1,200-long section of the riverbed, will be Keller Group, a geotechnical engineering firm, which is slated to carry out the deep soil mixing work. The work is scheduled in two phases, completing 600ft at a time to reduce the impact on river traffic.
With the aim of improving transportation reliability between Newark, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Station in New York City, the Gateway Program is a large-scale rail investment, while the project will also increase rail capacity along a critical section of the Northeast Corridor, the most used passenger rail line in the US.
According to COWI vice president John Chapman: “We’re thrilled to be contributing our expertise to such a vital infrastructure initiative. After more than a decade of following plans for The Gateway Program closely, we are delighted to be involved in the first heavy construction contract awarded on the project. We understand the critical importance of this development and look forward to collaborating with Weeks Marine and Keller Group to ensure its success.”
While currently the design phase of the HRGS project is undergoing, an initial 300ft test section expected to start this summer. The scheduled date for completing full stabilisation work on the Hudson River is January 2027.
Considering that the Gateway Development Commission finalised an agreement with the US Federal Transit Administration, securing $6.88bn in federal funding, the Hudson Tunnel Project got complete financing in July this year.
Additionally, the commission closed on $4.06bn in loans from the Build America Bureau to cover the local share of the project.
