SYNOPSIS

Rectangular Pipe Jacking Methodology has been commonly adopted in many parts of  China’s urbanized area for the construction of underground pedestrian linkway, vehicular passage and slip road construction. The size of these Rectangular Pipe Jacking Machine (RPJM) has gradually increased alongside with the advances in the methodology development.

RPJM is also highly feasible in Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) projects. As compared with traditional circular Tunnnel Boring Machine (TBM), RPJM methodology can be adopted for structures with shallower ground overburden condition. RPJM can also provide higher structural space utilization and lesser underground space occupation in addition to reducing the impact to stakeholders and the public without having the need for traffic as well as utility diversion.

In Singapore, construction using RPJM method is relatively new and has thus far been used in a few of the MRT station’s entrance construction. Funan Mall in the heart of Singapore is the first commercial project adopting RPJM for construction of Underground Pedestrian Linkway (UPL). As compared with MRT entrances, the Funan UPL posed greater challenges due to the shallower ground overburden and also space constraint. Funan UPL project includes the design and construction ofa 7.6m wideby 6.4m high tunnel with a total tunnel length of 108m. At its shallowest point, the overburden cover is only 3.6m deep.

This webinar will share on the RPJM methodology used in Funan UPL project as well as the challenges face by the Project team and how they overcome these challenges under adverse conditions. The challenges include but not limited to extremely shallow overburden soil cover, underground utilitis and limited construction space in a highly densed and urbanized area.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Mr Lu Wei holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering, from Tong Ji University, China.  He has 15 years of experience in managing tunneling works in addition to 4 years of experience being a surveyor. Currently, he is the Project Manager in charge of Public Utilities Board (PUB) Singapore’s subsea pipeline contract. Mr Lu Wei has successfully managed and delivered the first underground pedestrian link in Singapore completed using Rectangular Pipe Jacking Machine (RPJM) in 2021. In addition, Mr Lu wei also has vast experiences being involved in various Land Transport Authority(LTA) of Singapore’s MRT project, focusing on construction of the bored tunnel.