Credit: Gateway Development Commission
Tunnel boring for the Gateway project, which will replace the aging Hudson River rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, is set to begin next summer. The Gateway Development Corporation (GDC) announced last week that two massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will arrive early next year to start digging the 2.4-mile connection to Penn Station. The machines are expected to take about a year to dig the first mile of tunnel in North Bergen, where crews have spent the past two years preparing the site.
Built by Germany-based manufacturer Herrenknecht, the massive boring machines measure nearly 29 feet in diameter and stretch longer than a football field. The cutting-edge equipment will carve through the rock beneath the Palisades, according to Crain’s.
Procurement, manufacturing, and factory assembly of the first and second TBMs are 85 and 73 percent complete, respectively. Manufacturing of the first machine is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, with both completed by November. Once finished, the machines will be shipped to NJ for on-site assembly before boring operations start in 2026.
Thanks to their massive size, the machines can carve out roughly 30 feet of tunnel each day. As they move forward, they’ll dig the two parallel tunnels and place the concrete lining behind them. More than 1,000 sensors will track the machines’ underground position, monitor wear and tear on key components, measure air quality, and capture other data to ensure safe and efficient tunneling.
Work on the first phase began in November 2023, with crews raising Tonnelle Avenue to provide a 19-foot clearance above the train tracks and building a bridge that leads into the new tunnel’s mouth.
“While we may use tunnel boring machines instead of picks and shovels to dig tunnels now, the process of building a concrete tube under a river is still a remarkable challenge,” Tom Prendergast, CEO of GDC, said.
“The TBMs that we will use for the Hudson Tunnel Project are massive, highly complex machines, and it took nearly two years of construction to prepare for their arrival. Thousands of people across multiple construction teams are working incredibly hard to reach this important milestone on schedule.”
The $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, part of the broader Gateway Program, aims to revitalize the deteriorating tunnels that connect New Jersey and New York. The existing pair, more than 110 years old, suffered significant damage during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and has continued to deteriorate since.
The tunnel requires constant maintenance, leading to numerous delays that impact the commutes of hundreds of thousands of riders. In 2020 alone, passengers endured more than 12,600 minutes of delays tied to the tunnel’s aging infrastructure, according to a statement from the White House.
Despite its aging condition, the tunnel is a critical part of the economy. If it were to shut down for just one day, it would cost the nation’s economy roughly $100 billion, as 6sqft previously reported.
The project is expected to create roughly 72,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and generate up to $445 billion in economic benefits for the region, according to Crain’s.
Work on a similar project began in 2010, but was discarded by former Gov. Chris Christie, who feared that NJ would be left to pay for the project’s $8.7 billion price tag. Gateway was seen as a priority under President Barack Obama’s administration, and the federal government agreed to split the cost with NJ and NY.
While President Donald Trump withheld funding for the project during his first term, Prendergast told Spectrum News there is no indication his administration will interfere with the Hudson Tunnel project this time.
In July 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Gov. Philip Murphy agreed to split the $14 billion price tag for the local costs of the project. The Port Authority of NY and NJ has committed $2.7 billion to the first phase of the project, according to the New York Times.
In February 2023, former President Joe Biden announced a $292 million investment in the project. The funding was put towards a $649 million initiative to extend the concrete casing of the tunnels between Penn Station and the Hudson River before any work on the tunnels could actually begin.
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