Trans–Hudson Express Tunnels and New York Penn Station Expansion

New Jersey Transit Authority

Design Services for Caverns and Cross Passages:

The “Access to the Region’s Core (ARC)” project’s main goal is to provide additional rail capacity from northern New Jersey to Manhattan. The project includes new railway terminals and caverns under 34th Street in Manhattan between 6th and 8th Avenues, and two new tunnels, each approximately 1.5 miles (2,400 meters) long, under the New Jersey Palisades and the Hudson River.

Gall Zeidler Consultants provided engineering and design services for tunnel segments and all underground structures to be constructed using NATM. These segments included a reception tunnel for the Hudson River TBM in Manhattan, the cross-passages between the main tunnel tubes beneath the Hudson River and the station caverns.

On the Manhattan side, the Hudson River Tunnel Cross Passage will be constructed in mixed face conditions. The soft soils will be pre-stabilized using soil-freezing techniques. The initial tunnel support will consist of a reinforced shotcrete lining. This same ground freezing concept will be used in the soft soils of the Hudson River. Tunnel excavation will be done by NATM followed by PVC membrane installation for waterproofing, and shotcrete or cast-in-place concrete for the final cross passage lining.

The Penn Station cavern and tunnels are to be excavated using drill & blast method and TBMs during the early stages. The station cavern will be designed as a drained structure with a PVC waterproofing membrane and a drainage system.

LOCATION:

Newark, New Jersey to Manhattan, West Side, New York, New York

DATE:

2006 – Present

STRUCTURE:

Single-track rail tunnels, station caverns, crossover caverns and cross-passages, 3 escalator tunnels, 6 utility tunnels and 3 shafts

DIAMETER / HEIGHT:

28 feet (8.5 meters) for the running tunnels. Penn Station’s main cavern is 97 feet (29.5 meters) wide and 90 feet (27 meters) high with a length of 2,239 feet (682 meters), with shafts of diameters up to 90 feet (27.6 meters)

CROSS-SECTION:

700 square feet (65 square meters) for the running tunnels, 3,000 square feet (280 square meters) for the station caverns; The Penn Station cavern is 8,000 square feet (740 square meters)

GEOLOGY:

New Jersey Meadowland’s: soft soils and hard Jurassic diabase; Western Bank of Hudson: Stockton formation sandstones; Under the Hudson River Bed: sandstone and soft soils; Manhattan: hard rocks

COST:

Approximately US $ 8.7 billion

CLIENT:

THE Partnership (Brinckerhoff STV/DMJM, Joint Venture)

Owner:

New Jersey Transit Authority