The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) Board of Commissioners approved a change order to the Hudson River Ground Stabilization (HRGS) Project contract.
The change would remove approximately 500 submerged wooden piles from the demolition of Pier 68 to the contract. The pile removal and stabilization work will reduce the possibility that the tunnel boring machines will encounter obstructions as they move through the area.
The board authorized GDC’s CEO to execute the change order with Weeks Marine, the HRGS Project contractor. Valued at $88 million, the change will cover work that is scheduled to begin in late 2026. Signing the agreement was the last step to secure the entire $16 billion funding commitment needed for the project.
“Two years ago today, GDC signed the Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Hudson Tunnel Project. The progress we have made since then is undeniable. The first Hudson Tunnel Project construction package is complete, and six more packages are in progress. Today we took an important action to ensure we maintain this momentum as we move forward with tunnel boring,” Alicia Glen, New York GDC Commissioner and Co-Chair, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, New Jersey GDC Commissioner and Co-Chair, and Tony Coscia, GDC Amtrak Commissioner and Vice Chair, said in a joint statement. “
The Hudson Tunnel Project Package 1C: The Hudson River Tunnel Section was awarded in April, and included two mixed-use tunnel boring machines to build the stretch of new tunnel tubes under the Hudson River. Officials said it is one of the most technically complex construction packages due to needing to tunnel through mixed conditions, including rock, soft soil, and fill that was used to expand the Manhattan shoreline. The stabilization project is proactively addressing factors that could negatively impact the construction process, like boring under the river. To do so, the project requires contractors remove obstructions from the route the tunnel boring machines will take, and then mix lightweight concrete into the riverbed to ensure it is firm enough for the machines to dig through.
Stabilization work began in 2024 through a process that prepares a 1,200-foot-long by 100-foot-long wide section of the riverbed for boring.
“A project as large and complex as the Hudson Tunnel Project brings new challenges every day. The progress we have made in the two years since we signed our Full Funding Grant Agreement was not guaranteed when the agreement was signed. It is the result of hundreds of men and women showing up and working hard day in and day out for the past two years,” GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said. “Today’s Board action shows how GDC makes progress by thinking ahead.”