Source : Fig 1 of Aviva Supplementary Expert Report

Figure 1.1 A map of Singapore showing location of the collapse.

 Source : Figure 3 of Aviva Supplementary Expert Report

Figure 1.2 Plan showing the collapsed area of C824.

 TSA Shaft TSA Shaft

M3

M3

Failed
Section
S320

Intact Failed
M2 Section S312 Section S320

Intact
Section
M2
S312

Overview of Affected Project Site Prior to Accident Overview of Affected Project Site After the Accident
 Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Circle Line Project (CCL)

1. The proposed Circle Line (CCL) which is set to complete in 2009, is designed to
cut travelling time and allow commuters to bypass busy interchanges like City
Hall and Raffles Place. Costing approximately $6.7 billion, the entire CCL
project will be a fully underground orbital line linking all radial lines leading to the
city. The line will interchange with the existing North-South Line, East-West Line
and North-East Line. The CCL will be 33.6 km long when completed by 2009
and will have 26 operating stations and provision for 3 future stations. Starting
from Dhoby Ghaut station, it will run through some of the busiest corridors in the
city and end at HarbourFront station on the North-East Line. The project is
being implemented in five stages and is expected to be ready by 2009. A
diagram showing the Circle Line MRT grid with respect to the other existing
lines is given in Figure 1.3.

2. Table 1.1 shows a summary of the respective CCL project phases (see also
Figure 1.4). The information is however based on data available up to the time
of collapse on 20 April 2004.

Table 1.1 - The various stages of the MRT Circle Line Project*
CCL Description No of Stage Length Year Start / Expected
Stage Stations (km) Year of Completion

CCL1 From Dhoby Ghaut to 6 5.4 2001 / 2006

Boulevard station

CCL2 From Old Airport Road to 5 5.5 2002 / 2006

Upper Paya Lebar Station

CCL 3 From Bartley to 5 5.7 2003 / 2008

Marymount Station

CCL 4 From Thomson to NUH 8 10.4 2004 / 2009

station

CCL 5 From West Coast to 5 6.6 2004 / 2009

HarbourFront station

Total 29 stations 33.6

* based on original plan before NCH incident

Page 1
Source : LTA website

Figure 1.3 Overview of Circle Line MRT line.

 Introduction

3. At the time of the accident, stages 1 to 3 were under construction. These three
stages stretch about 16 kilometres, from Dhoby Ghaut to Marymount. From
Marymount, the next two stages will wind around Toa Payoh Rise, tunnel under
the Polo Club to reach the Botanic Gardens station at Cluny Road, before
continuing to Holland Village and linking up with Buona Vista station which will
become one of the two interchange stations for these two stages. There will
also be a station near the National University Hospital. The other interchange
station will be at HarbourFront station. All but three of the 29 stations on the
33.6 km line are to have been ready by 2009. The 11-station section from the
Dhoby Ghaut interchange to Upper Paya Lebar Road (CCL1 and CCL2) was to
have been ready first.

The Circle Line Stage 1 (CCL 1) Project

4. The proposed Circle Line Stage 1 (CCL1) is a 5.4 km long Mass Rapid Transit
(MRT) system designed to run underground from the Dhoby Ghaut MRT
Station, below Bras Basah Road to Marina Centre and then continue below
Nicoll Highway to the National Stadium (see Figure 1.5). It was originally
scheduled to be completed in 2006.

5. The CCL1 was divided into two Civil Contracts, namely C824 and C825 as
described below:-

ƒ C824 Design and Construction of cut and cover as well as bored

tunnels and two underground stations namely: Nicoll Highway
(NCH) and Boulevard Station (BLV). The route length covered
by this contract was approximately 2.8km. This design and
build contract was awarded to Nishimatsu Construction
Company Limited - Lum Chang Building Contractors Private
Limited Joint Venture (“NLCJV”) on 30 May 2001 for the
contract sum of about $273 million.

ƒ C825 Design and Construction of cut and cover as well as bored

tunnels and four underground stations namely: Millenia (MLN),
Convention Centre (CVC), Museum (MSM) and Dhoby Ghaut

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 Introduction

(DBG). The route length covered by this contract was

approximately 2.6 km. This design and build contract was
awarded to Woh Hup Pte Ltd-Shanghai Tunneling Engineering
Co-NCC International AB JV.

6. CCL 1 comprises six stations and runs over a route length of approximately
5.4km. These stations are to be located at the following locations:

(1) Dhoby Ghaut Station (DBG) – located in the shopping district below
Orchard Road. This station is an important interchange station with the
North South and North East Lines;

(2) Museum Station (MSM) – located below Bras Basah Road, near the
Singapore Art Museum and the future Singapore Management
University campus;

(3) Convention Centre Station (CVC) – stretching from Beach Road to the
intersection of Bras Basah Road and Nicoll Highway. This station is
sandwiched between the former NCO Club and War Memorial Park;

(4) Millenia Station (MLN) – located below Temasek Avenue and Rochor
Road, near the Millenia Walk and Suntec City shopping belt;

(5) Nicoll Highway Station (NCH) – located below Nicoll Highway, directly
fronting the Concourse building; and

(6) Boulevard Station (BLV) – located adjacent to the National Stadium,

Kallang Theatre and Leisure Park, near the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

7. CCL 1 will start at the new Dhoby Ghaut Interchange station on the North East
Line, where there is a direct link with the existing North South Line. This
medium capacity rail transit system will run underground from the Dhoby Ghaut
MRT Station below Bras Basah Road to Marina Centre and then continue below
Nicoll Highway to the National Stadium. It will pass landmarks such as the
Singapore Art Museum, future town campus of Singapore Management
University, Suntec City, Millenia Walk, Concourse Building and the Singapore
Indoor Stadium. Two of the stations will have platforms served by 4 tunnels
stacked two upon two. A permanent siding will be located east of the National
Stadium.

Page 3
 Introduction

The Contract - C824

8. C824 was let as a Design and Build Lump Sum contract to NLCJV for the
design, construction and completion of the Nicoll Highway and Boulevard
Station and the associated tunnels. The contract period runs from 30 May 2001
to 30 January 2006. It was one of the two Civil Contracts awarded under CCL 1
(the other was C825) and comprised the following major components (see
Figure 1.6):

(i) Construction of a 3-level underground railway station under Nicoll

Highway, opposite the Concourse Building (Nicoll Highway Station
“NCH”);

(ii) Construction of a 3-level partially underground railway station under

Stadium Boulevard, between the National Stadium and Kallang Theatre
(Boulevard Station “BLV”);

(iii) Construction of a 550m length twin cut and cover tunnels between the
Boulevard Siding and Boulevard Station. This section includes an
interface with the Kallang Expressway tunnel;

(iv) Construction of a 33m length of twin cut and cover tunnels immediately
west of Boulevard Station containing a cross passage and escape stair
leading to the station;

(v) Construction of 799m length twin bored tunnels beneath the Kallang
Basin. These tunnels commence after the short cut and cover section
west of Boulevard Station, cross under the river and the Crawford
Underpass and interface with a Temporary Staging Area (TSA) access
shaft to the west of the underpass;

(vi) Construction of an emergency escape shaft for the bored tunnels

comprising a cross passage with emergency stairs located on the
western shore of the river, between Crawford Underpass and the
seawall;

(vii) Construction of a 34m diameter temporary access shaft (TSA Shaft) at

the interface between the bored tunnels and cut and cover tunnels. The
access shaft is located to the west of the Crawford Underpass;

(viii) Construction of a 211m length twin cut and cover tunnels between the

Page 4
 Introduction

34m diameter access shaft and crossovers east of Nicoll Highway

Station. These tunnels translate to a stacked arrangement to enter the
stacked scissors crossover.

(ix) Construction of a 199m length stacked 4-cell scissors crossover at the

east of Nicoll Highway Station. The crossover links the CCL tunnels
running between Boulevard Station and Nicoll Highway Station to a pair
of stacked tunnels for future lines; and

(x) Construction of a 372m length stacked 2-cell cut and cover tunnels
running between Nicoll Highway Station and the contract limit near
Millenia Station.

9. The total underground excavation works to be undertaken on C824 therefore

required somewhere in the region of 2km of cut and cover excavation and
associated temporary works, in addition to 800m of twin bored tunnels beneath
the Kallang River. The significant majority of these excavation works would be
undertaken in soft marine clay deposits.

10. C824 comprised 2 stations, namely, Nicoll Highway Station (NCH) and
Boulevard Station (BLV) with bored tunnel under the Kallang basin. There was a
provision for the construction of Temporary Staging Area (TSA) for the purpose
of launching of rails track and Electrical and Mechanical (E&M) equipment
through TSA shaft, which was the circular shape structure at the accident area.
In the west of Kallang Basin, the site was grouped into 4 different zones i.e. Cut
and Cover 1 (CC1), Nicoll Highway station (NCH), Crossover Box tunnel (XOB)
& Cut and Cover 2 (CC2). The following is a summary of the respective sections
of C824 (see Table 1.2 and Figure 1.7).

11. There were a total of 3 different project sections supervising the construction in
C824; namely Nicoll Highway team, Boulevard Team and Bored tunnel team.

Page 5
Source : NLCJV

Figure 1.7 Overview of Contract 824 (B)

 Introduction

Table 1.2 - The various Sections of C824

Section of C824 Wall Type Approx. Route

Length (m)

Cut & Cover Tunnel 1 (CC1) Type A, B, B1 and C 372

Nicoll Highway Station (NCH) Type D2, D1A, E1, F1, E2, 327
D1, E3, E4, F2, G1 and G2

Cross Over Box (XOB) Type H, I, J and K 199

Cut & Cover Tunnel 2 (CC2) Type L, M1, M2 and M3 211

TSA Shaft (TSA) Type N 35

Bored Tunnels (under Kallang - 799

Basin)

Launch Shaft 1 Type Q1 and Q2 33

Boulevard Station (BLV) Type R1, S and R2 246

Boulevard Siding (BLS) Type T, U1, U2, V, W1, W1a, 475

W1b, W2, W2a and Y

Bored Tunnels (over-run after - 71

BLS)

Total 2768

The Cut-and-Cover 2 Area (CC2)

12. The entire CC2 area spans about 211 metres in length and terminates at the
TSA shaft of diameter 34 meters. It comprised 4 sections namely the Type L,
Type M1, Type M2 and Type M3 areas. The length of each section is given in
Table 1.3 below.

Table 1.3 - The various Sections of Cut and Cover 2 (CC2)

Section of CC2 Approx. Route Length (m)

Type L 46

Type M1 44

Type M2 88

Type M3 33

Total Route Length 211

Page 6
 Introduction

13. The accident area in which the collapse occurred was primarily centred at the
Type M2 and Type M3 areas and these areas, particularly the Type M3 area will
be the area of focus of this report. For design purposes, the entire cut and cover
tunnels was divided into approximately 40 design sections, referred to as “wall
types”. Of these, there were 28 panels for Type M2 and 12 panels for Type M3
areas. After the accident only 12 of the Type M2 panels survived the accident
while all of the Type M3 panels had collapsed. (see Figure 1.8)

14. The bottom up Cut-and-Cover technique was the construction method used by
NLCJV to build the tunnels for the area. It involves the excavation of an open
trench in the earth supported by a temporary retaining wall system, the
construction of a permanent structure in the open trench (i.e. a tunnel in this
instance) and the subsequent back-filling of the trench with soil upon completion
of the structure.

15. A shaft (TSA Shaft) was required at the interface between the cut and cover
tunnels and the bored tunnels immediately west of the Kallang river basin where
the excavation is deepest. The construction of this shaft is to allow access for
trackwork and E&M contractors and thus introduced a requirement to construct
the adjacent cut and cover tunnels in time for the trackwork and E&M
contractors’ access. Further, the cut and cover tunnels’ excavation work
immediately adjacent to the access shaft (TSA Shaft) must accommodate major
utilities that cross the alignment and which were not diverted in advance of the
works.

16. The temporary works to construct the cut and cover tunnels used diaphragm
walls to support the sides of the excavation supported by struts across the
excavation and jet grout slabs, constructed using interlocking Jet Grout Piles
(JGP).

17. Due to the length of the cut-and-cover tunnels, requirements of the alignment of
the railway tracks and the varying underground conditions, a number of different
depths of diaphragm walls, widths of excavation, numbers of levels of struts and
JGP thicknesses, were required. In order to simplify the design process NLCJV
subdivided the Temporary Works into different Types. There was a typical
cross-section for each Type.

Page 7
 Introduction

The Collapse Area (Type M2, M3 and TSA Shaft)

18. The collapse area occurred within the CC2 area, particularly the Type M2 and
M3 area and terminating at the TSA Shaft. A site plan showing the area affected
by the collapse is given in (see Figure 1.9 and 1.10).

19. The critical area that requires particular focus is the Type M3 area. A site plan
showing the Type M3 area is given in (see Figure 1.11). This area comprised
12 panels, with 6 on the north wall while another 6 on the south wall. The north
wall is the side nearer Nicoll Highway and the Golden Mile Tower while the
south wall is nearer the sea. The panels were all 800mm thick with the
exception of panels M303, M304 and M306 which were 1000mm thick. The
length of the Type M3 area is about 33 metres and terminates at the TSA shaft.
The design depth of the walls varied between 38.1 m to 43.2 m. A 66kV utility
spanning diagonally across the Type M3 area resulted in gaps in the walls
between panels M303 and M304 (north wall) and between panel M212 (Type
M2) and M306 (south wall).

Surrounding Buildings and Infrastructures

20. The Nicoll Highway station (NCH), the cross-over Box (XOB) and the cut and
cover section is bounded by Beach Road to the north and Republic Avenue to
the south. Nicoll Highway crosses the cut and cover tunnel on a steel decking
(see Figure 1.2).

21. The area between Beach Road and Nicoll Highway is heavily built up with
several highrise buildings. These are the Plaza, Plaza Parkroyal, the
Concourse, the Golden Mile Tower and the Golden Mile Complex. The 5
buildings mentioned are mainly commercial buildings except for Plaza
Parkroyal, which is an 8-storey high hotel. The tallest building is The Concourse
being 42 storeys high with 2 basements. The Plaza has a 3-storey podium block
(Furniture Mall) with a 32-storey tower block and one basement. Golden Mile
Tower and Golden Mile Complex are 22 storeys and 17 storeys respectively
with one basement level each. Except for The Plaza, which is founded on a
mixture of reinforced concrete (RC) and steel piles, the rest are founded on
steel piles.

Page 8
 Introduction

22. When the incident occurred, the surrounding ground collapsed into the primarily
Type M3 excavation area. The edge of the collapse area was about 10 m from
the Golden Mile Complex.

23. Merdeka Bridge is located to the north east of the collapse area. The edge of
the collapse extended to the bridge abutment. It was considered that the bridge
abutment may be affected by continued soil movement ensuing from the tunnel
collapse. As a precautionary measure, the bridge was isolated from potential
impact of further soil movement by sawing through and separating the bridge
span adjacent to the abutment.

24. A storm drain located south of the cut-and-cover tunnel was damaged during
the collapse. The drain was the main drainage outlet, conveying water to the
sea nearby. When the collapse occurred, sea water rushed into the collapse
area, prompting emergency measures to be taken to block the ingress of water.

25. Several key utilities including power electric mains, gas mains, water mains and
telephone lines were located on or near the site. Of particular importance were
the three 66 kV cables which cut diagonally across the cut and cover tunnel at
the M3 area. (see Figure 1.11)

Page 9
 Introduction

1.2 THE PARTIES INVOLVED

26. C824 covered the design, construction and completion of the stations at Nicoll
Highway and Boulevard including tunnels. The contract sum for the project was
about S$273 million. The project commenced on 30 May 2001 and was
expected to complete on 30 Jan 2006. AVIVA Ltd is the cedant insurer for the
Builders’ Risks and Third Party Liability insurance for the CCL 1 project. The
relationship between the other parties was as follows:

Land Transport Authority

Project Developer / Owner

Nishimatsu / Lum Chang JV Maunsell Consultants (S) Pte Ltd

Factory Occupier / Main Contractor (Permanent Works Design)

Bachy Soletanche Singapore Pte Ltd

(Installation of Diaphragm Wall)

Kori Construction (S) Pte Ltd

(Steelwork and Strutting)

AVIVA Ltd Hiap Shing Construction Pte Ltd

Cedant Insurer (Excavation)

L&M Geotechnic Pte Ltd

(Instrumentation Works/Jet Grout
Piles / Bored Piles)

Monosys (S) Pte Ltd

(Strut Monitoring Works)

Soil & Foundation Pte Ltd

(Soil Investigations Works)

Figure 1.12 - Chart showing the Relationship of Parties involved in C824

Page 10
 Introduction

Land Transport Authority (“LTA”) – The Project Owner / Developer

27. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of
Transport (MOT) that spearheads land transport developments in Singapore.
The development of the MRT service is part of its role as the body responsible
for the planning of Singapore’s transport needs. It is the owner and developer of
the project.

28. LTA awarded the C824 contract to NLCJV. The contract was awarded on 30
May 2001 and it was originally scheduled to be completed by 30 January 2006.

29. The LTA Management Structure comprises eight principal divisions. This
includes the Projects and Engineering Divisions. The design and construction of
Circle Line Stage 1 (CCL 1) and in particular Contract 824 is managed by the
Projects and Engineering Divisions of the LTA.

30. The LTA (or prior to the formation of the LTA, the MRTC) has been responsible
for the management of about 140 kilometres of rail systems design and
construction in Singapore over a period of more than 20 years. Approximately
44 km of this is underground.

LTA C824 Project Team

31. A simplified version of the LTA’s C824 project organisation structure is shown in
(see Appendix A-20). The Project Director for MRT Circle Line stages 1 and 2
(CCL1 and CCL2) was Ng Seng Yoong (C824 is part of CCL1). He was also the
Qualified Person (Supervision) [“QP (ST)”] who certified on the design of the
temporary works (including the retaining wall system) for C824. Ng Seng Yoong
took over the position of QP (ST) for C824 from P. Sripathy in April 2003.

32. The Senior Project Manager for C824 was Guy Taylor and the Project Manager
was Wong Hon Peng.

Page 11
 Introduction

33. Under LTA’s Matrix Management System, the project team was supported by
the staff from the Design Management Department. The Design Manager in
charge of C824 was Joshua Ong.

Nishimatsu-Lum Chang Joint Venture (“NLCJV”) – Factory Occupier / Main

Contractor

34. NLCJV was a joint venture set up between Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ltd
(NCC) and Lum Chang Building Contractors Pte Ltd (Lum Chang). The joint
venture was entered into for the purpose of participating in the tender process to
obtain C824 to design and build the MRT tunnels and stations at Nicoll Highway
and Boulevard.

35. NLCJV was awarded the contract for the design, construction and completion of
stations at Nicoll Highway and Boulevard including tunnels (Contract 824). The
contract sum for the project was about S$273 million. Between NCC and Lum
Chang, it was agreed that Lum Chang would be in charge of the construction
work for the Boulevard Station and Cut and Cover sidings while NCC would
take charge of the construction of the other areas.

36. To simplify administrative procedures, it was agreed that NCC would be the
lead contractor in the joint venture co-operation. As the lead contractor, NCC
was the party who would deal with the relevant authorities for matters such as
the application for factory registration and BCA building permit. It was also
agreed between LTA and NLCJV that all payments under C824 would be made
to NCC and that all correspondence and notices to NLCJV be addressed to and
served on NCC.

37. NLCJV authorised NCC to sign all sub-contracts relating to C824 on behalf of
NLCJV. The key sub-contractors engaged to carry out the respective work
under C824 are described below.

38. NCC registered the worksite at C824 with the Occupational Safety Department
(Ministry of Manpower) as required under section 9(2) of the Factories Act. NCC

Page 12
 Introduction

is thus the factory occupier for C824 worksite in accordance with the meaning of
the Factories Act.

NLCJV C824 Project Team

39. A simplified version of the NLCJV’s C824 project organisation structure is as

shown in (see Appendix A-21). The Project Director was Shun Sugawara, with
Tomio Ueno as his deputy.

40. The Project Co-ordinator was Paul Broome. He was also the Professional
Engineer who endorsed on the design of temporary works (including the
retaining wall system). The design team for temporary works was headed by
Kazuo Shimada.

41. The Project Manager responsible for the construction of the cut and cover
tunnels (collapsed area) was Yoshiaki Chikushi. His deputy (for construction
works) was Shimizu Tatsuro.

42. Under the Temporary Works Quality Plan put up by NLCJV, the supervision of
the construction of temporary works was headed by Paul Broome (see
Appendix A-22).

THE SUB-CONTRACTORS

Maunsell Consultants (S) Pte Ltd (“Maunsell”)

43. Maunsell was appointed by NLCJV under a Designer’s Agreement signed on 13

Nov 2001 to carry out the design for the permanent works relating to the civil,
structural and geotechnical disciplines for the Stage 1 Circle Line Contract 824.
The Designer’s Agreement also states that Maunsell was to review temporary
works designed by NLCJV, which included the Temporary Staging Area, the
temporary launching shaft at Boulevard Station, the Nicoll Highway Station and
the Cut and Cover Tunnels (CC1 and CC2).

Page 13
 Introduction

Bachy Soletanche Singapore Pte Ltd (“Bachy”)

44. Bachy Soletanche was engaged to carry out the construction of the diaphragm
wall designed by NLCJV. Bachy is a local subsidiary of one of the world’s
largest foundation contractors and has been responsible for the design and
construction of a number of diaphragm wall projects in Singapore for over 20
years. These include a number of projects that were undertaken as part of the
MRT/LTA mass rail projects, some of which were undertaken as a sub-
contractor to NLCJV.

Kori Construction (S) Pte Ltd (“Kori”)

45. Kori Construction was engaged to fabricate, install and remove the strutting to
the Nicoll Highway and Boulevard Stations including Tunnels. They were also
awarded a sub-contract for the installation of King Posts. Kori is a specialist
sub-contractor in the erection of steelworks for excavation support.

Hiap Shing Construction Pte Ltd (“Hiap Shing”)

46. Hiap Shing was engaged to carry out excavation, backfilling and other
earthworks to the Nicoll Highway and Boulevard Stations including Tunnels.
Hiap Shing is a local contractor with experience in bulk excavation.

L&M Geotechnic Pte Ltd (“L&M”)

47. L&M Geotechnic was engaged to carry out supply and installation of
instrumentation and monitoring works. They were also engaged to construct
and complete bored piles and Jet Grouting works. L&M is an experienced local
contractor that specialises in geotechnical processes such as site investigation,
geotechnical instrumentation, foundation and ground treatment, including jet
grouting.

Page 14
 Introduction

Monosys (S) Pte Ltd (“Monosys”)

48. Monosys (S) Pte Ltd was engaged to install strain gauges, supply pressure
transducers and manage the Automatic Strut Monitoring System.

Soil & Foundation Pte Ltd (“Soil & Foundation”)

49. Soil & Foundation Pte Ltd was engaged for the conduct of soil investigations for
the project. During the tender stage, LTA also made available to the tenderers
(including NLCJV) the reports of the soil investigations carried out by Soil &
Foundation.

1.3 PREVIOUS INVOLVEMENT IN DEEP CUT AND COVER EXCAVATION

50. It was noted that a joint-venture comprising Nishimatsu, Lum Chang and Bachy
was the contractor appointed by the LTA to carry out the design and
construction of Contract 708 on the North East Line Project (NEL), the last
major mass transit construction commissioned by the LTA prior to CCL.
Contract 708 comprised the design and construction of Clarke Quay station and
associated tunnels. The excavation for Clarke Quay station required the design
and construction of a station formed in a significant cut and cover excavation in
soft marine clay. Nishimatsu and Lum Chang joint ventures were also the
contractors appointed by the former MRTC to construct the Bishan Depot, the
City Hall Station and the Bugis and Lavender Stations and Tunnels for the
North-South/East-West MRT Lines. The Bugis and Lavender stations were also
constructed by deep cut and cover excavation in soft marine clay.

Page 15