TUNNELLING WORKS TO START IN Q1 2019
Boring machines to be delivered early next year, says MRT Corp
MASS Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), the developer and asset owner of mass rapid transit projects, is expected to commence tunnelling works for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line in the first quarter of 2019.
MRT Corp strategic communications and stakeholder relations director Datuk Najmuddin Abdullah said four newly-purchased tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from Herrenknecht China have undergone factory acceptance test (FAT) and will be delivered to Malaysia in the first quarter of next year.
“A total of 12 tunnel boring machines (TBM) will be used in the works — 10 variable density (VD) TBMs and two Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) TBMs.
“The additional machines are required as the underground alignment is longer than the Sungai Buloh- Kajang (SBK) line,” said Najmuddin during the FAT for two of the four newly-purchased TBM at the Guangzhou Herrenknecht Tunnelling Machinery Co Ltd factory in China.
Each TBM costs between RM40 million and RM60 million while the eight other machines were refurbished from the SBK line, making it twelve in total.
The 13.5km tunnelling works for the SSP line would start in Jalan Ipoh and end at Bandar Malaysia (South) in Kuala Lumpur.
Najmuddin explained the FAT was a validation process that took place to ensure the system and manufacturing designs met the specifications set forth in the contract.
It was also disclosed that the progress of the SSP Line 2 currently stood at 12.05 per cent, with overall progress reaching 19 per cent by yearend.
The first phase of the SSP line is scheduled to be completed by July 2021 while the full completion of its 52.2km alignment, covering 37 stations (11 underground), is scheduled for full completion the following year.
Also present for the FAT event were MRT Corp SSP line underground works director Blaise Mark Pearce, MMC- Gamuda KVMRT (T) Sdn Bhd (MGKT) tunnelling director Gusztav Klados and MGKT tunnelling general manager Ng Hau Wei.