CUE students see firsthand what it takes to work on a multibillion-dollar project

The aptly named Moles organization is comprised of professionals involved in the construction of tunnel, subway, sewer, foundation, marine, underwater, and other heavy construction projects. The organization was launched in 1936, and two decades later, in 1956 (just a few years after mining engineer and  former U.S. president Herbert Hoover was dubbed the "Grand Old Mole"), a new tradition was inaugurated: an Annual Students Day that allows aspiring civil engineers, construction project managers and others to see firsthand what’s involved in being a working Mole.

As in past years, a large group from Tandon joined some 300 other students and faculty members from colleges throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut for the 2024 trip, which focused on the Portal North Bridge project in Kearney, New Jersey.   

This is a great educational opportunity, and we thank the Moles for their 20-plus years of sponsoring this trip, as well as their generous support of thousands of dollars in scholarships.”
— Magued Iskander, Department of Civil and Urban Engineering Chair

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing Portal Bridge, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and opened for service in 1910, carried more than 450 daily Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains and 200,000 daily passengers over the Hackensack River. Its operation presented headaches for commuters and agencies alike, however, since it often malfunctioned while opening and closing for maritime vessels, leading to frustrating delays and disruptions.    

With construction now well under way, Portal North will replace that aging piece of infrastructure with a taller, fixed-span bridge that will rise more than 50 feet over the river, eliminating the need to open and close. 

There was plenty for the students to see along the almost-two-and-and-a-half-mile stretch of the mega-project. “We got to view several impressive aspects of deep foundation construction in a marine environment, including slabs being poured and shafts drilled,” Daniel Carvajal (‘25), a civil engineering master’s student, says of the trip. “The Moles could not have picked a more interesting project, and they not only supplied the PPE we needed and made themselves available to answer any questions we had, they also organized a career fair for us afterwards, which featured a variety of major companies.”

Carvajal — who is currently working on Department of Defense thesis research involving the detection of unexploded ordnances — is a native of Washington Heights. He recalls peering through the viewing panels on construction sites as a child, and he asserts that the Moles’ Annual Student Day engenders some of that same sense of wonder and excitement. 

“When I was growing up in the city, there were always opportunities to see something new being built, and after earning my bachelor’s degree at Penn State, I knew I wanted to come back to be re-immersed in a dynamic urban environment,” Carvajal explains. “Seeing the Portal North project really reinforced the fact that we’re living in one of the world’s greatest construction capitals.”