At the beginning of November a rectangular pipe jacking machine with a cutting section of 7.72m x 5.65m has finished tunnelling as part of  Singapore’s T221 project.

The machine was deployed to an underpass at the MRT Thomson-East Coast Line's Havelock MRT station. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) decided to use a rectangular pipe jacking machine supplied by CREG, this was to minimize noise and dust during due to tunnel construction works. Also by using this type of machine it meant less time for traffic diversions, because this construction method significantly reduces the total construction time of a tunnel. The excavation of the 157m long tunnel took only six months which compared to cut and cover method was  much faster.

This exciting and outstanding mechanical tunnelling technology has been proven by a couple of projects in Asia, where CREG has supplied rectangular pipe jacking machines with different dimensions. Recently CREG was honoured with the Gold Award for  “Chinese Good Design” for high technical  innovation, which is organised by Red Dot and awarded by the China Academy of Engineers.

The machine used in Singapore will be moved to the Thomson-East Coast Line's Stevens interchange station so it can excavate the next underpass that goes under the Bukit Timah canal. For further information please visit their website  http://www.creg-germany.com/ . 01/17.