Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd – Okumura Corporation Singapore Branch Joint Venture will be responsible for the tunnels between West Coast station (CR18) and Jurong Lake District station (CR19) The contract is valued at around S$242m (£140.9m).
The works include construction of twin bored tunnels, each extending 2.4km beneath the Sungei Pandan canal and key infrastructure such as the West Coast Highway and Ayer Rajah Expressway. The tunnels are expected to be at depths of up to 40m – 10m deeper than is typical for other stations on the project.
The geology is mainly weathered soil and hard sedimentary rock.
Construction works are expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year and passenger service for CRL Phase 2 is targeted to commence in 2032.
Nishimatsu Construction Co is currently constructing the bored tunnels between Tampines North station (CR6) and Defu station (CR7). The company has previously completed tunnelling works at Keppel station for Circle Line 6 as well as Gardens by the Bay station for the Thomson-East Coast Line.
Okumura Corporation has worked on projects such as the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System as well as the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway and Taipei MRT Airport Line.
The CRL is Singapore’s eighth MRT line. It will link major hubs such as Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District and Changi region and almost half of its stations will have interchanges with other rail lines.
The fully underground CRL is being constructed in three phases. Announced in 2019, CRL Phase 1 is 29km long and has 12 stations. Construction works are under way and the line is targeted to be completed by 2030. CRL Phase 2, announced in September 2022, is approximately 15km and has six underground stations.
Engineering studies for the CRL Phase 3 are ongoing.
