Eight Slurry Shield Machines Ordered for Singapore

Tokyo, August 21, 2014 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has received successive orders for a total of eight slurry shield machines from Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. Two of the machines will be used for the construction of Singapore's cable tunnel, and the remaining six will be used for the construction of the country's MRT Thomson Line. Kawasaki will be responsible for the design, manufacture and marine transport of the shield machines. Delivery is scheduled to start before the end of 2014 and be completed in the first half of 2016.

The two tunneling machines ordered for the construction of the high-voltage transmission cable tunnel are slurry type shield machines with a diameter of 6.90 m. They will be used for the 5.3-km long cable tunnel from Jurong Island to Pioneer being constructed by SP Power Assets Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore Power Ltd. Construction is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2017.

The six machines ordered for the 30-km long Thomson Line project, undertaken by the Singapore Land Transport Authority, are also slurry type shield machines, each with a diameter of 6.63 m. These machines will be used to excavate two sections — the T202 section from Woodland North Station to an adjacent tunnel, and the T211 section from Sin Ming Station to an adjacent tunnel — along the Thomson Line, for a total length of approximately 6 km. Excavation of these tunnels is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2017.

Combining shield tunneling technology for soft ground with tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology for boring hard rock and gravel layers, the slurry shield machines ordered this time can excavate complex layers of rock and soil. The shield machines come with tailor-made features to suit the characteristics of the construction area. These include hydraulic overcutters and articulation mechanisms to handle the excavation of acute curves in hard-rock sections, as well as a seal structure to accommodate high water pressure under a maximum earth covering of 65 m.

To date, Kawasaki has already delivered 10 shield machines for the Singapore Downtown Line project, and has received orders for five in 2013 for different sections (North-South and East-West Lines) of the cable tunnel project. The latest order will bring the total for Singapore alone to 35, and the global total for shield machines and TBMs ordered to approximately 1,400. This order is a testament to Kawasaki’s outstanding technological capability as well as the proven track record and reliability of its shield machines that can excavate any type of soil.

Kawasaki expects to see additional orders for shield machines coming from Singapore as the country moves ahead with construction plans for the Thomson-East Coast Line. Demand is expected to remain steady for the medium- and long-term throughout Asia with subway construction work scheduled in India, Vietnam, the Near and Middle East, and other regions. Kawasaki is moving steadily ahead to expand shield machine and TBM sales across the globe.