The MRT-NEL - Singapore

asia_c701-1.jpgThe new S$5 billion Mass Rapid Transit North East Line (MRT-NEL) is one of Singapore's largest transportation infrastructure improvement projects, encompassing some 20 km of new, primarily underground track, 16 new stations and a new depot. LOADTEST performed testing services for 4 separate contracts, including the C701, C710, C711 and C706.

At the site of the new Senkang Depot and Maintenance Yard (C701), LOADTEST performed O-cellTM tests on 14 preliminary test piles and on 19 production shafts. Piles ranged in diameter from 1.2 to 2.4 meters with a maximum applied load of over 12,500 tons.

The Senkang Depot was also the site of a side by side comparison between the O-cellTM and Kentledge method.

Load-movement relationships for the two tests showed remarkable agreement, but the similarities in the method ended there. The photo to the left illustrates the elegant simplicity of the O-cellTM test set-up when compared to a traditional top-down test. The mountain of concrete reaction for the Kentledge test can be seen in the background, towering over the simple reference beam and tent set-up required for the O-cellTM test. LOADTEST was already running another test at the other end of the site before all of the concrete reaction could be taken down, much less set up somewhere else!

asia_c706-1.jpgThe Senkang Depot was not the only place in which LOADTEST and O-cellTM technology solved some decidedly difficult logistical load testing problems. At the site of the new Farrer Park MRT station (C706), LOADTEST performed a 1500-ton test on a 1.2 meter diameter pile, nearly 10 meters below the existing street level! The photo to the right shows the massive structural bracing which severely limited overhead clearance, making O-cellTM technology a very attractive solution.

Always the method of choice when space is limited, LOADTEST also came through with a 3000-ton O-cellTM test in the middle of busy Telok Blangah Road, near the World Trade Center (C711). Utilizing O-cellTM technology allowed the load test to be safely carried out without having to close additional lanes or divert traffic any more than already necessary.

asia_small_ocell_v_ kentledge.jpgThe really intriguing aspect about this particular pier is that it will straddle a new MRT approach tunnel to the World Trade Center station. Running directly under the pier cap, the proposed 6.5-meter diameter approach tunnel will pass a scant 1.1 meters from the O-cell™ production shaft. The use of O-cell™ technology in this unique design illustrates the well-justified confidence in the method.

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