By rosebell
Gateway Development Commission (GDC) said the first machine will begin excavation within days, with the second following shortly afterwards. The launches mark the start of mechanised excavation for the new twin-tube rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
The two single-shield hard-rock TBMs were manufactured by Herrenknecht in Germany and will be operated by the Schiavone Lane Dragados JV (SLD) on the US$465.6M Palisades Tunnel construction package. The JV comprises Schiavone Construction, Dragados USA and Webuild subsidiary Lane Construction.
The machines will each drive approximately 1.55km through the Palisades rock formation, from the tunnel portal at North Bergen to the Hudson County Access Shaft on the border of Weehawken and Hoboken. The twin tunnels will have a finished internal diameter of 7.67m, with six cross passages connecting the two tubes.
The single-shield machines are designed for excavation through the hard, dry rock of the Palisades with installation of a precast concrete segmental lining.
The TBMs are expected to advance approximately 9m per day, including scheduled maintenance stops, with each drive taking around a year.
Manufacturing and factory testing of the two machines was completed in late 2025. The first TBM was shipped to the US in January, with the second arriving in May after shipment from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Baltimore. The machines were transported in components before being reassembled and commissioned at North Bergen.
Once the Palisades drives are completed, both machines will be dismantled and removed through the Hudson County Access Shaft. A second pair of TBMs, optimised for the mixed-ground conditions beneath the Hudson River, will then excavate the two tunnels towards Manhattan. Four TBMs will therefore be used for the bored sections of the new tunnel.
The Palisades package is being managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in partnership with GDC. Preparatory construction began in late 2023 and has included construction of a bridge carrying Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen and excavation of the TBM launch box.
The wider Hudson Tunnel Project is being delivered through ten construction packages and will provide a new two-tube rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York before the existing North River Tunnel, which has been in service since 1910, is rehabilitated. The first construction package was completed earlier this year and six further packages are currently under construction.
