The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) recently began tunnel boring for the Hudson Tunnel Project. The project will build a two-tube rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York and rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel.
“In the days, months and years ahead, we will continue to build on their hard work to deliver this critical project for the riders who are counting on us today, and the future riders who will use the tunnel for decades to come,” Tom Prendergast, GDC CEO, said.
Two sets of two tunnel boring machines will bore approximately one mile through the Palisades Cliffs in New Jersey from the tunnel portal in North Bergen to the Hudson County Access Shaft in Weehawken. The machines use a rotating cutterhead fitted with disc cutters that press against the rock face, applying intense pressure that breaks the rock into chips. They are expected to build approximately 30 feet of tunnel daily and will reach the Hudson County Access Shaft approximately one year after launching and will be replaced with a second pair of tunnel boring machines optimized for the mixed ground conditions under the Hudson River. The second pair will build the tunnel tubes from New Jersey to Manhattan.