Work on Singapore MRT line put on hold

Dateline: Lion City

SILENCE descended at the worksites on the MRT’s Circle Line yesterday as contractors were ordered to stop all excavation works immediately, to allow Government engineers to conduct a safety audit. 

No deadline had been set for the completion of the sweeping check on the 33km line with 29 stations. 

The scene of the collapsed highway.

This was “to make sure that the review is carried out properly, comprehensively,” National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan had said on Sunday. 

A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman said later the contractors would not be allowed to do deep excavation works until the design and construction of temporary structures needed – for example, to build a tunnel – had been reviewed. 

It was the collapse of one such retaining wall for a tunnel of the Circle Line last Tuesday that caused a massive cave-in at Nicoll Highway which killed four men. 

“Work will resume only when it is clear that all the necessary precautions have been taken,” Mah told reporters at a community event . 

The LTA spokesman said the move was an extra precaution to ensure the design and construction of the temporary structures were safe.  

“Deep excavation works will not continue until both LTA and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) are satisfied that it’s safe to proceed,” she added. 

Officials of BCA and LTA will carry out the checks, as the post-collapse operations enter the second phase.  

The new priority comes after engineers have, under the first phase, established that the three buildings closest to the cave-in – Golden Mile Complex, Golden Mile Tower and The Concourse – are safe, said Mah. 

He also said checks had shown that buildings in the Nicoll Highway vicinity were safe and that the same checks would be carried out on other buildings near the Circle Line to ensure their safety. 

The latest order against excavation works extends the stop-work order given after Tuesday’s tragedy to the main contractor, a joint venture between Nishimatsu Construction and Lum Chang Building Contractors. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network  

Asia News Network