1910 Amtrak/Pennsy North (Hudson) River Tunnel

(Satellite, west portal)

The completion date and correct name for the title were found here.

 

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.

safe_image for Clock is ticking for 110-year-old Hudson River rail tunnel
Superstorm Sandy flooded the tunnel with saltwater in 2012.

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.

safe_image for Project to fix critical Northeast Corridor choke point gets go-ahead

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:

Screenshot @ 3:12
(Portal North Bridge)

What may have been.

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.

NewYorkIMBY

safe_image for Amtrak leverages weekend service outages to make critical repairs in North River Tunnel

5:42 video  Dec 2023 cost estimate: $17,180,000,000. Digging starts in 2025 with an expected completion in 2035.

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 10:43 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

RailwayAge, cropped (source)

rtands

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?

Dennis DeBruler: Michael John Hackmer It is for a rail tunnel. I've seen a cost estimate of $30 billion dollars for this Gateway Project. https://www.rtands.com/.../hudson-tunnel-project-ramping-up/

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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