Hudson Tunnel delivery partner shortlist revealed

The shortlisted teams are: Bechtel-HNTB joint venture; Hudson Delivery Partnership (Atkins North America, Inc, Arup US Inc, and the McKissack Group); and MPA Delivery Partners (Parsons Transportation Group of New York Inc, Arcadis of New York Inc, and Mace North America Ltd).

The US$16bn project involves building the new 2.4 mile two-tube Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson River, between Newark, New Jersey, and New York City’s Penn Station, and refurbishing Amtrak’s existing 112-year-old North River rail tunnel, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is the most heavily-used passenger rail line in the US.

The GDC announced its intention to use a private delivery partner in December last year. It said the model would increase its technical, financial and legal capacities to manage and deliver the Hudson Tunnel Project, including enhancements to project planning, programming, design management and construction management capabilities. In addition, potential performance incentives in the partnership would increase discipline in delivering the project efficiently.

The PDP model is fairly new in the US but it has been used in other countries, such as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the UK’s HS2 high-speed railway and Sydney Metro in Australia.

In February, the GDC published a Request for Proposals for the first early works – construction of the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and utility relocation. Construction is expected to start this year.

Phase I of the Gateway Program also includes the Portal North Bridge Project.