North River Tunnels (Hudson River) Discussion (Repairs, History, Status, Etc.)

Now we can see the way the tunnel is falling apart and temporary repairs.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-a- ... d=msedgntp

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny- ... story.html

Congratulations to Amtrak, not on its 50th birthday coming May 1, but on the flawless execution of the complicated and precise operation to effectuate desperately needed repairs to its Hudson River tunnel which has suffered water damage and other degradation from a lack of maintenance and Superstorm Sandy. It’s all happening without even the slightest hiccup in normal train service between Jersey and Manhattan for NJTransit or Amtrak. And they claimed that they couldn’t do it.
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Last weekend, Amtrak invited the Associated Press, complete with photography and video, down into the hole to observe how crews were removing and replacing 400 feet of rail and 360 tons of ballast, the little rocks that fill the track bed.

The tunnel is 13,500 feet long. So at that rate each tube would take 34 weekends, or 8 months. Two tubes means 16 months for everything. Even if they proceeded at one half or one third the speed, it would all be done many years faster than waiting a decade or more for the new proposed $9.8 billion Gateway tunnel to open and then shut down the old tubes for fixes.
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Jeff: Aren't these repairs just temporary until a full rehab can be started ? It may be once these are completed Amtrak will have to start over ?

Any repair on a 100 year old tunnel is going to be temp. It's the same thing with the L. The upside is doing it in this manner would/should/could forestall a catastrophic failure. Doing it in parallel with Gateway has nothing but upside.

I hope those 100yr. + steel liners hold up. That water is seeping in from somewhere. Get the new tunnels started ASAP.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:23 pm Any repair on a 100 year old tunnel is going to be temp. It's the same thing with the L. The upside is doing it in this manner would/should/could forestall a catastrophic failure. Doing it in parallel with Gateway has nothing but upside.

Jeff: I fully agree. The possible prevention of a catastrophic failure is most important. My concern is will these temp repairs have to be continuously repeated until Gateway bores in service and a full repair of the present tubes be properly done ? Does anyone know which tube is presently being repaired or is it a matter of which tube is in worse shape that weekend ? I find that the logistics of supplying repair parts could be quite challenging for unique parts requirements.