Structural Design for 34 St Train Station & Trans-Hudson Tunnel

(Oct 2006–Oct 2010)

Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel Project owned by Port Authority of NY & NJ and NJ Transit was planned and designed to provide two new tracks just along the south side of AMTRAK’s Northeast Corridor between the Secaucus Station and the Palisades in New Jersey. The new tunnels will cross under the Hudson River from Hoboken and under the Manhattan bulkhead in New York City to the site of the new NY Penn Station Expansion (NYPSE) caverns between Eighth and Sixth Avenues.

Engineer from MAKS was the Structural Engineer responsible to design the Train Station cavern. Generated structural model in LARSA for the three level building with the interior elements like elevators, escalators and platforms. On outer reinforced concrete frame, an initial lining will be installed that consists of a combination of shotcrete, rock reinforcement and lattice girders and steel ribs. After completion of the excavation, a reinforced concrete final lining will be applied. Between the initial and final lining a layer of waterproofing membrane with drainage composite will be installed. The three-level cavern’s horseshoe configuration is sized to accommodate two train platform levels; a lower platform level will be constructed at the cavern invert level, and an upper platform level will be at the third level. The mezzanine will be situated on the second level between the two platform levels and will house the station ancillary rooms in the east and west ends of the cavern..

TBM Tunnel Design

The main running tunnels were designed to be supported by precast concrete segmental linings installed as TBM excavation progresses. In addition to live loads and seismic loads, the precast concrete segments were also designed for loading conditions arising from manufacturing, transporting, handling and erection, as well as shoving of the TBM.