The completion date and correct name for the title were found
here.
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The Marine Buff posted
The Pennsylvania tunnel project in New York City, initiated in 1904, marked a significant engineering endeavor by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The project aimed to establish a terminal station on Manhattan Island, linking it with the Long Island Railroad system. Construction involved clearing buildings on four large city blocks for the passenger station. Tunneling operations began with the sinking of shafts, soon extending from New Jersey to Long Island. The tunnel design emphasized safety, incorporating concrete-filled sides up to car window level to minimize damage from derailments and collisions. Electric cables were embedded in the concrete side benches, and the tunnel featured thorough lighting and refuge niches for employees. This extensive work laid the foundation for what would become a crucial infrastructure component in New York City's transit system. |
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J.B. Rail Photog posted
A cutaway view showing how Pennsylvania Railroad tracks reached Manhattan. Interesting stuff. |
I learned about the Gateway Project for rebuilding rail access to Manhattan from when I studied the replacement of the
Portal Bridge. By delaying the construction of a new tunnel, we (taxpayers) now need to pay for repairs on the old tunnel as well as building a new tunnel.
Trump remembered his campaign promise concerning a wall at the Mexico border but forgot his promise about fixing our infrastructer. I wish it had been the other way around.
I was aware that there was a funding issue. I was not aware that the US Army Corps of Engineers was delaying an approval.
8:11 video: since 2014, needed repairs have caused 65,000 minutes (45 days) of delays (commuter cancellations) and 20% of the nations GDP gets put on hold. The new tunnels are expected to take 7 years to build, and then fixing the existing tunnels would be another 3 years.
The Gateway Project:
What may have been.
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Fred Hadley posted
The new bridge over the Hudson River New York in 1896 We present a perspective view of the proposed New York and New Jersey railroad bridge across the Hudson River. It shows also the New York approaches and the location of the grand terminal station. The station will be at the corner of Eighth Avenue, Forty-ninth and Fifty-first Streets. The six track viaduct will run thence west to the block in Fiftieth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. There, by a broad curve, the viaduct will sweep northward., constantly rising at a grade of thirty-five feet to the mile. The structure will curve to the westward again at Fifty-eighth Street, and at Fifty-ninth Street and Twelfth Avenue it will reach the end of the bridge structure proper. The imposing proportions of the bridge and the beauty of its designs are shown in the illustration, and, when we study its dimensions in detail, it is perhaps safe to say that it will be the greatest engineering work ever attempted. This can best be understood by reference to the present Brooklyn Bridge. The main span of the new bridge will be more than twice the length and its towers fully twice the height of those of the Brooklvn Bridge. It was originally proposed to erect a bridge of the cantilever system, with a river span of 2,000 feet. This would have necessitated a tower 1,000 feet out in midstream, and, as the War Office requirements demanded that the river navigation should be unobstructed, it was determined by the company to attempt the bridging of the Hudson River by a mammoth suspension bridge, with a great central span of 3254 feet. There will be six railroad tracks, and the bridge is to be strong enough to carry all the tracks loaded with trains from end to end, or a total live load of about 30,000 tons. It is estimated that the bridge itself will cost $25 million and the cost of the whole, bridge, approaches and terminal works, will be about $60 million. Should there be no legal or other obstructions, it is estimated that the work can be completed in eight years. The design illustrated was made by the Union Bridge Company, of New York City. Like other Hudson crossing proposals, this one was never built. Scientific American excerpt and engraving, May 2, 1896 |
2022 Update: It looks like the route of the new Hudson River Tunnel has changed since 2014. The cost is now estimated at $11.6b. I have seen some headlines that indicate funding has finally been approved.
5:42 video Dec 2023 cost estimate: $17,180,000,000. Digging starts in 2025 with an expected completion in 2035.
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8:04 video @ 1:50
"New York’s $29.5BN Mega-Tunnel"
3:07 The Hudson Tunnel part of the project is $12.4b. |
This 1
0:43 video specifies a $16b cost. If you want to skip the usual "this route is important and at capacity" verbiage, then go to
2:18.
Feb 29, 2024
Weeks Marine, Inc.
posted two photos with the comment:
If you’re near the Hudson River in New York or New Jersey, you’ve probably noticed the ongoing work on the Hudson River Ground Stabilization – the first major phase of the Hudson Tunnel Project.
We’re actively working on the Hudson, plunging 140-foot-long steel pipe piles and sheeting into the riverbed to create a stabilized foundation to facilitate future tunneling construction by other contractors. To do this, our team is constructing a temporary cofferdam containment structure to make ground improvements inside. The cofferdam is built in segments 110 feet wide and up to 600 feet long across a 1,200-foot-long corridor. This operation will continue for the next two years and is essential for preparing the ground for the tunnel boring machine and protecting the riverbed from disruption.
Once the project is complete, it will provide long-term reliability and resiliency, benefiting not only NJ Transit and Amtrak users but also travelers throughout the region and nation.
M V Boyce Boyce: Probably be using a Earth, balance tunnel, boring machine set up for a mixed face, which means it will be set up for rock and soft ground and use compressed air. [I was not aware that two years of work is needed before they can use a TBM.]
Kiewit Corporation
posted the same information because Weeks Marine, Inc is one of their subsidiaries.
Michael John Hackmer: Is this for a future rail tunnel or auto or both that is planned? Or is it just in case they want to build another tunnel?
Parth Patel: Dennis DeBruler that's simply not true. It is 16 billion dollars.
Dennis DeBruler: Parth Patel $16b would be just the Hudson Tunnel. The Gateway Program includes additional construction such as the Portal Bridges and refurbishing the old tunnels. And that cost is $29.5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWzTbX2emI Richard Koch: Dennis DeBruler It’s water over the riverbed now, but all of this would have been finished nearly 10 years ago if Chris Christie hadn’t pulled the plug on the earlier effort when he was elected Governor of NJ in 2009. He gave up $13B plus in federal support so that NJ wouldn’t have to raise fuel taxes for the first time in 15 years to cover the other estimated $2B. That $15B would have covered the supporting infrastructure, not just the tunnel.
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BulletTrains USA.com
posted eight images with the comment:
DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: The Hudson Tunnel Project
“The Hudson Tunnel Project involves construction of a new Hudson River rail tunnel serving New York Penn Station and the rehabilitation of the existing Sandy-damaged North River Tunnel.
The high level of traffic in the existing North River Tunnel — approximately 450 trains per weekday — means that without this project, taking one of the North River Tunnel tubes out of service for necessary repairs would severely reduce rail service because the remaining tube would have to accommodate two-way traffic. This very significant reduction in capacity would have a devastating effect on New York and New Jersey commuters who cross the Hudson on a daily basis, Amtrak passengers, and the regional and national economies.”
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Another click-bait YouTube title. The tunnels should cost "just" $16b. $30b is the current figure for the entire gateway project including the
Portal Bridge. If you want to skip the "we have a big problem" part, then go to about here.
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10:19 video
Inside America's NEW $30 Billion Tunnel Under the Hudson River |
Dec 2025:
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1010 WINS posted
Work to begin digging a new Hudson Tunnel is set to begin this spring as two tunnel boring machines custom-built for the project are on their way to New Jersey. |
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audacy, Photo credit Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
"The tunnel boring machines are coming from a Herrenknecht factory in Germany and are part of the overall $465 million cost to excavate one mile of new rail tunnel in New Jersey. The two machines will work simultaneously to create two parallel tunnel tubes. The boring work in New Jersey will take about a year, according to a GDC spokesperson. The project will then proceed to dig through the Hudson River, which will require different machines designed for that terrain."
The first machine should arrive in January and digging should begin in the Spring. |
Jan 2026:
June 2026:
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