Located beneath three active rail lines at Rotterdam Junction, N.Y., the 107-ft-long reinforced concrete pedestrian tunnel is among the last components to complete the 750-mile Empire State Trail. To keep the rail corridor fully operational during construction, the project team adapted the box-jacking method to pull the cast-on-site tunnel through the embankment. The innovative approach minimized the magnitude of rail embankment deformation by applying roughly equal and opposite forces to each side.
Photo by Colby Jesset, courtesy Brierley Associates