Winner of the 2018 Outstanding Shotcrete Project Award in the Rehabilitation and Restoration Category. The Queens Midtown Tunnel received a major renovation from 2015 - 2018 due to Superstorm Sandy flooding the major commuter tunnel with gallons of water, corroding much of the infrastructure. Cruz was part of the team to restore the tunnel to what you see today.

Like many projects Cruz pursues, the design documents called for “form-and-pour”, but an opportunity to complete tasks with less resources and less time was seen, and taken. This put the shotcrete repairs on the “critical path” list.

Cruz repaired parging for the new LED light trenches, nearly 1,000 hollow wall nitches, fire standpipe encasement for both tubes (1.2 miles each), and spall repairs to the fresh- and exhaust-air ducts.

In the end, the Queens Midtown Tunnel was opened 11-months ahead of schedule. The experience and versatility in Cruz’s shotcrete performance has contributed to this multi-million-dollar Capital Improvement Project located in America’s largest city to be completed on time and under budget.

• Location: below the East River, New York City

• Prime Contractor: Judlau, an OHL Company