Five Shield Machines Ordered for Singapore Subway Construction

Tokyo, April 14, 2010 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has received two orders for a total of five shield machines to be used in constructing the second stage of the Singapore mass rapid transit system’s Downtown Line Stage_2 (DTL2). Korea-based SK Engineering & Construction placed an order for three shield machines while an order for an additional two shield machines came from another Korean company, GS Engineering & Construction. All five shield machines are scheduled for delivery between September 2010 and January 2011.

These slurry shield machines (with a diameter of 6.63 m) will be used to complete Singapore’s DTL2, a 16.6-km subway line now being built by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA). The machines will excavate a seven-kilometer stretch of the DTL2 consisting of project C915, which runs from Beauty World to Hillview Stations, and project C913, which runs from the Hillview to Cashew Stations. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.

The slurry shield machines harness both the shield tunneling technology used in the excavation of soft ground as well as the tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology employed in carving out rock and gravel layers to burrow through mixed layers of rock and soil. Designed to excavate virtually any geological strata, the shield machines are outfitted with Kawasaki’s proprietary replaceable cutter bits as well as an articulated steering system that enables them to excavate curved sections. Kawasaki will also supply various auxiliary equipment to go with the shield machines, including a slurry treatment system.

Kawasaki has supplied more than 1,400 shield machines and TBMs around the world, including 11 in Singapore. These latest orders are 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 goes ahead with plans for more underground construction work including the LTA’s ongoing subway project. Demand is expected to remain steady for the medium and long-term throughout Asia with subway construction projects scheduled in major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Harbin, Wuhan, and Chengdu, as well as Vietnam and Indonesia. Kawasaki is moving steadily ahead to expand its shield machine and TBM sales throughout the world.

Some features of the shield machines to be used in the Singapore subway construction project are summarized below.