Skanska Creamer Sanzari JV Wins $711M Hudson Tunnel Contract for NJ Surface Alignment

The Daily Dig

The Gateway Development Commission has awarded a $711.7 million contract to Skanska Creamer Sanzari NJSA JV for Construction Package 3 of the Hudson Tunnel Project: the New Jersey Surface Alignment. With this award, seven of the project's ten total construction packages are now in progress or completed.

The NJ Surface Alignment will build 7,540 feet of new infrastructure running from County Road in Secaucus to the tunnel portal at Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. That infrastructure will eventually carry the tracks connecting the new Hudson River tunnel to the existing Northeast Corridor in New Jersey. Tracks, signals, and railroad systems are scoped for a separate future package. Construction is expected to begin in 2026.

The award follows last month's contract for Construction Package 6, covering twin tunnel boring under the Hudson River, which went to a Traylor, Walsh and Skanska joint venture.

The scope is heavy civil throughout: 4,170 feet of retaining walls with lightweight concrete fill embankment, 3,150 feet of viaduct over Meadowlands wetlands, bridges over Secaucus Road and existing freight rail lines operated by Conrail and New York, Susquehanna and Western, plus utility relocations, drainage work, access roads, and an auxiliary signal power substation relocation.

The contract was awarded through a two-step competitive process that started with six responding firms, shortlisted four, and advanced two to final proposals. Seven Alternative Technical Concepts proposed by the JV were accepted by GDC after technical review. The commission concluded they will reduce costs, minimize environmental impacts, and improve long-term maintainability of the infrastructure.

Work will occur adjacent to active tracks, requiring coordination with Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT throughout construction. Sections of the alignment also pass through regulated Meadowlands wetlands, adding environmental compliance requirements across the project.

TheJobWalk Thoughts

Seven Alternative Technical Concepts accepted on a $711M contract is worth paying attention to. ATCs are how contractors put their own engineering intelligence on the table before ground breaks, and GDC accepting all seven signals that this owner is willing to act on what the private sector brings. For JVs and large subcontractors pursuing future packages on this program, that is worth factoring into how you structure your technical approach.

Work near active tracks requiring Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT coordination will be a constant throughout this project, and that kind of constraint has a way of becoming the dominant schedule driver. Subcontractors pricing into this work need to understand that production near live railroad infrastructure does not move on the contractor's timeline. Build that reality into your schedule and your number, not your contingency.

The Meadowlands viaduct is a legitimate opportunity for contractors with specialty concrete and formwork experience, but the regulated wetland environment will shape what is possible and when. Environmental compliance and agency coordination on projects like this affect procurement timelines and field schedules at the same time, often in ways that are hard to anticipate from the outside. Firms that have executed work in regulated wetland corridors before carry a real advantage, both in the bid room and once construction is underway.