The Hudson Tunnel Project’s first TBM has begun tunnelling on schedule.
Schiavone Lane Dragados JV launched the TBM on the Palisades Tunnel Project on October 8. A second TBM will commence work in the coming weeks.
The two 8.7m-diameter single shield machines are designed for the hard, dry rock of the first approximately 1.6km of the new rail tunnel tubes in New Jersey. The Herrenknecht machines will excavate the parallel drives from the tunnel portal in North Bergen to the Hudson County Access Shaft on the border of Weehawken and Hoboken.
When they reach the access shaft, they will be removed and replaced with a second pair of machines designed for the mixed ground conditions under the Hudson River.
The TBMs are expected to advance at around 9m per day, including scheduled pauses for maintenance. It will take approximately one year to build this section of the tunnel tubes.
The start of tunnelling follows the ceremonial launch on September 28.
Gateway Development Commission (GDC) chief executive officer Tom Prendergast said that with the start of tunnelling, GDC had reached the most significant Hudson Tunnel Project delivery milestone to date on schedule.
“This is a major achievement that would not have been possible without the hundreds of people who have worked together to plan, design, and build the infrastructure and equipment needed for this incredible machine to do what it was made to do,” he said.
The Hudson Tunnel Project is separated into 10 construction packages. Schiavone Lane Dragados JV is leading construction of the Palisades Tunnel Project package, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey managing project delivery in partnership with GDC. The package involves the construction of the Hudson County Access Shaft, the two parallel tunnels and six cross-passages.
