Major transportation projects are testing how firms manage construction in high-stakes environments, according to industry experts at the New York Build Conference

From tunnels to railroads and airports, New York City is undergoing a comprehensive transformation of its transportation infrastructure.

That overhaul includes the $16 billion Gateway Program, $5.5 billion Interborough Express project, $7 billion Penn Station redevelopment and other billion-dollar investments into the city’s three main airports. The total dollar figures behind these projects are staggering, and so too are the efforts during the construction phase.

“There’s an incredible amount of construction that is associated with this,” said Aryeh Lemberger, senior vice president at Montreal-based contractor WSP, during this year’s New York Build Conference in March. “It’ll create a lot of opportunity for construction management professionals. The trades will certainly be involved. So, it’s a game changer in so many different ways.”

Nowhere is this more apparent than during construction of the Gateway Program, a rail line stretching between New Jersey and New York, said Priya Jain, president of the Americas at Mace, a London-based construction consultancy firm selected as one of the delivery partners of the project.

“It’s not just about constructing this,” said Jain. “When you go through the design approvals, the environmental [review], and then you look at the communities that are getting impacted, this is not something you can do just at night time.”

The centerpiece is a new tunnel beneath the Hudson River, which will eventually double train capacity between New Jersey and Manhattan.

The existing, century-old tunnel, which sustained heavy damage during Superstorm Sandy, will then be taken offline for a full rehabilitation. Combined, the two-tunnel system will modernize the Northeast Corridor, a stretch from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

But the technical feat is only half the story, said Jain. The Gateway Program also reflects the challenge of managing complex megaprojects across jurisdictions.

“This job is not only about building a new tunnel, it’s also about rehabilitating the original tunnel that’s out there,” said Jain. “We are tapping into a lot of local firms. From a minority, disadvantaged business perspective, roughly about 25%, that’s where we’re trending right now.”

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My Thoughts 💭

After decades of neglect NYC is getting serious infrastructure investment. Feel free to read the article to get more in-depth information on the projects (one I covered already is the JFK improvements). But still not nearly enough that is needed to make the Big Apple beautiful again.