C886 - C&C Tunnels & Trackworks in progress

 

4 August 2023 - Trackwork Staging Area (TSA) at the turnback siding.

The recent visit to the Westin Hotel not only gave great views of Prince Edward Road station, but also of the cut & cover tunnels linking to Marina Bay station as well. Being built under contract 886, the tunnels will also feature a turnback siding, from where trackworks are taking place.

5 August 2023 - A view of the two tunnels diverging - the mainline running tunnels & turnback
siding tunnels. Backfilling work can be seen at the turnback siding tunnels while the mainline
running tunnel still has some struts within the excavation site.

5 August 2023 - Another view of the struts along the mainline running tunnel section.

5 August 2023 - Towards Marina Bay, the struts have been fully removed.

5 August 2023

5 August 2023 - Form work on site where casting works are ongoing.

5 August 2023 - Openings in the tunnel roof allow materials to be lowered into or out of the
tunnels below.

5 August 2023 - Hacking of the capping beam of the diaphragm wall is in progress.

5 August 2023 - A close up view of backfilling works.

5 August 2023 - Work still ongoing at the turnback siding
emergency escape shaft.

5 August 2023 - A close up view showing the emergency escape shaft
works ongoing. Struts are still in place here.

Cut & Cover tunnels
The cut & cover tunnels stretch from the diverging point abutting Prince Edward Road station's eastern end and connect to Marina Bay & the turnback siding tunnel. The turnback siding tunnel ends just before the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) tunnels between Shenton Way & Marina Bay stations. It is here that the trackwork staging area (TSA) is located, but more on that later.

The aerial view has helped to determine the stage of work along the cut & cover tunnels. Most of the turnback siding tunnel has been back-filled with soil over the roof of the permanent structure. A portion at the eastern end where an emergency escape shaft will be located near to Park Street has yet to commence back-filling works as the structure appears to still be undergoing works.

Along the main running tunnels, work is underway for backfilling with certain stretches still having the struts visible within the excavation trench. Other parts, most notably near to Marina Bay station, have had the struts fully removed. In fact, part of the capping beam of the diaphragm walls here have been hacked away, signaling that the constructions works are towards a completion phase as the next stages to follow will be back-filling and thereafter reinstatement.

4 August 2023 - Assembly of the rails upon sleepers is underway at the TSA site.

4 August 2023 - Equipment at the tunnel openings.

4 August 2023 - Sleepers in position for the assembly of a turnout section.

4 August 2023 - A shed used for the maintenance of rail equipment used for trackworks.

5 August 2023 - An overview of the TSA site.

5 August 2023 - Several openings visible to allow trackwork material
to be lowered into or taken out of the tunnels.

5 August 2023 - A blue gantry crane on site.

5 August 2023

5 August 2023

5 August 2023 - Stacks of rails waiting to be assembled.

Trackworks

Trackwork has recently commenced with the arrival of equipment and materials on site at the TSA. When we last visited in June 2023, there was no gantry crane assembled as yet. However the blue gantry crane has since been set up and put into use here - potentially after being relocated from the TSA north of Punggol station for the North East Line extension, which is also under the same contract for track work.

The site also appears busier as compared to the visit in June, with more equipment on site. This includes work trains that are used to shuttle materials around at surface level and will also be used to deliver material within the tunnels.

With trackworks commencing, it is an exciting step bringing the line closer to reality. Once done, some trains will turn back at this siding instead of making the full circle journey. It is likely that this is done to aid with regulating operations along the branch line towards Dhoby Ghaut and may be used only at certain periods of the day.

This post will also be available on Instagram & Facebook on 21 August 2023.