‘More than a day to bore through 10cm of rock’: Making Stage 2 of the Thomson-East Coast Line a reality

SINGAPORE: Tunnelling through exhausting granite, working round main utilities and conducting building work simply metres away from houses: These had been just a few of the challenges confronted by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) throughout building of the Thomson-East Coast Line’s second stage.

Comprising six MRT stations - Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson and Caldecott – Stage 2 of the Thomson-East Coast Line is scheduled to open on Aug 28.

On Thursday (Aug 12), LTA engineers revealed some of the challenges they confronted throughout building alongside the 13km stretch.

For the Springleaf station, works had been carried out simply 7m away from shophouses alongside Upper Thomson Road, stated LTA deputy venture supervisor Goh Heng Tak.

“Due to the close proximity of Springleaf station to the shophouses at Thong Soon Estate, we had to ensure that the structural integrity of the shophouses was protected during construction of the station,” stated Mr Goh.

To stop injury to the shophouses, an earth retaining stabilising construction - a structural system used to preserve the {shape} of excavation throughout building works - was constructed to stop motion of the floor.