Tutor Perini Corp., a civil and building construction company, was awarded a contract by Amtrak to construct an underground concrete casing (“box tunnel”) beneath the Eastern Rail Yard of the Hudson Yards site in New York City.

The contract value is approximately $133 million and the project has been funded through a Federal Transit Administration Hurricane Sandy relief allocation.

The project — a key element of Amtrak’s Gateway Program — is intended to preserve an underground right-of-way for possible future expansion of rail service via two new tunnels underneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York's Penn Station.

The box tunnel will measure approximately 800 feet long, 50 feet wide and 35 feet tall and extend underground from 10th Avenue to 11th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets. Construction is expected to begin in August 2013, and substantial completion is expected in late 2014.