Last tunneling contract awarded for Gateway work
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The third - and final tunneling contract for the Gateway project has been awarded.
....
The $1.28 billion contract was awarded to a joint venture of firms to design and build two parallel tubes under the Hudson River, a project known as the Hudson River Tunnel Section. The all-in price tag for the project, including engineering, design and the 20% contingency for unexpected costs, is about $2 billion.
..... Traylor Bros. Incorporated, Walsh construction Company II LLC, and Skanska USA Civil Northeast Incorporated were the three companies that submitted the successful joint bid on the contract. Traylor and Skanska were joint venture partners on construction of the $2.3 billion Portal North Bridge,a Gateway Program project that opened its first two tracks earlier this year. [2026]
..... It is the six of 10 expected construction contracts award by the board of the Gateway Development Commission, th bistate agency overseeing the construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repairs to the damaged one that is 116 years old.
..... The Portal Bridge and the tunnel transport Northeast Corridor rail passengers in and out of Ne York Penn Station, the busiest transportation hub in North America, a corridor best by problems due to age, capacity and neglected infrastructure.
..... The bid process for this package began in October 2024 and was held up temporarily by the Trump administration's withholding of federal reimbursements.
..... That resulted in a three-week pause in construction, the two lawsuits being filed, and a judge issue an order to force the money to resume flowing to the program.
..... The award for this project would have been announced in December if not for the funding pause.
.....
Despite the delay and funding snarls with Trump administration, Gateway CEO and President Thomas Prendergast said he's very confident in the program and is hopeful the team can make up for the time lost.
..... The Gateway commission issued a request for proposals for the Hudson River Tunnel Section to three shortlisted firms in July 2025, but only one proposal was received, in October 2025.
..... Asked why Gateway proceeded with only one bid for a project of this magnitude, Prendergast said the situation is not unusual and "does happen quite a bit, especially with something as specialized as a tunnel boring machine."
..... James Starace, Gateway's chief of program delivery, said officials are very confident in the contractor team they've hired.
..... "Every contractor has reasons for bidding or not bidding. It could be workload, it cold be risk, it could be a number of reasons," Starace said. "We're very comfortable that we have a very qualified team here that has experience in soil tunneling, soft soft tunneling. This one will involve rock excavation - it involves a lot of things. We're very comfortable that we have a good contractor to do this."
.....
The joint venture worked on the East Side Access project and phase in New York City, the Regional Connector Transit project in Los Angeles, and the First Street Tunnel in Washington, DC.
..... The firms' bid came in below the independent engineer's estimate, which provides a benchmark for comparison, the Gateway commission said.
..... The two other short-listed ventures that did not provide proposals were Halmar International LLC, and FCC Construction Incorporated; and Dragado USA Incorporated. Schiavone Constructions Company, LLC, and The Lane Construction Corporation.
Simultaneous projects
..... in addition to the Hudson River Tunnel Section, two Gateway projects are taking place on the two sides of the river.
..... One is the complicated Manhattan Tunnel Project, a $1.8 billion undertaking that involves clearing a 700-foot path for the future tunnel as it approaches the New York side of the Hudson River and the New York Penn Station tunnel box.
.....
The other is the Palisades Tunnel Project a $465 million project to assemble two German-made tunnel boring machines to drill through the Palisades rock face between North Bergen and Weehawken - work that is going on right now.
..... Once that work is completed, the two machines will be removed through a shaft at the Weehawken site and two new tunnel boring machines designed for the Hudson River project will be dropped in to excavate through different materials, such as rock, soil and river muck.
..... Here are more details about what the Hudson River boring machines will be expected to do.
* Nearly 1.5 miles of tunnel boring will take place during this project.
* The Hudson River tunnel boring machines will bore about 35 feet a day and at the same time will install concrete segments that make a ring and form the tunnel liner.
* About 2,400 concrete rings will be installed.
..... The contract also involves:
* Installing the tunnel floor where track will be laid.
* Building nine passageways between the two tubes in case emergency evacuation is needed.
* Relocating utilities.
* Supporting the Willow Avenue bridge in Hoboken.
* Improving and treating the ground near the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system in Hoboken and Weehawken to prepare it for tunneling.
..... the Hudson River Tunnel Section is expected to be finish in 2030.