Sixth Avenue & KAP

King Albert Park Realigns (II)

Photos of the aftermath of Sunday's diversion is categorized in this second post. The current realigned section will temporarily operate a 3 lane carriageway with uneven curve settings until the road decking is removed and canal surroundings reinstated. 

The final reinstatement to the road should take place closer towards the end of the year, and would see the re-extension of the median divider in front of Maplewoods in addition to the opening of the remaining 2 carriageway, reinstating to the original capacity of 5 lanes.

Temporary uneven inclinations around the juncture of the former road deck and the realigned road

King Albert Park Realigns

The 3 lane carriageway of Bukit Timah Road will be reinstated at the King Albert Park site come tomorrow morning. This realignment is one that has been eagerly anticipated by residents. The realignment has been brought forward from year end with great effort from the MacDow team. Blackmore Drive is currently temporarily closed over the weekend as the team cuts the temporary slope inclination that leads to the existing canal decking.

Frames for the drop off bay and permanent bus stop have been constructed, and the overall cladding and M&E works to the overhead linkway, as well as both entrances are almost completed.

Live progress of the reinstatement works

Completed drop off bay at the main entrance of the station.

Acoustic Shed Dismantles

Dismantling of the temporary acoustic shed at the King Albert Park site commenced at the start of this month. A mobile crane and cherry picker is currently facilitating the dismantling, with the inner section of the shed closer to Maplewoods being dismantled first. The side barriers are being removed concurrent with the dismantling of the roof.

Entrance B has achieved BSC, and the escalators had just been fitted into the structure over the weekend.

Sixth Avenue Diverts

To facilitate the hacking of the temporary D-wall beneath the existing Bukit Timah Road, a lane-for-lane diversion was implemented at the Sixth Avenue site on Saturday morning. This is the final road diversion anticipated along Bukit Timah road under the Downtown Line project. The works are envisaged to take around 2 months to complete and the permanent reinstatement will take place then.

Sixth Avenue - Beam Launching

The beam launching works that are scheduled tonight for the new POB at the Sixth Avenue Station is testimonial to the C917A project team's commitment and efficiency towards a swift completion of the Downtown Line 2. The first truss segment, to be launched over Bukit Timah Road tonight, comes just less than 2 weeks after the twin columns were cast.

The second truss segment across the canal and Dunearn Road will be launched up next Tuesday (May 5).

April 30 - Beam launched over Bt Timah Road

May 8 - Beam launched over Dunearn Road

King Albert Park - Beam Launching

The beam for the new pedestrian overhead bridge (POB) linking both entrances of the King Albert Park station has successfully been launched yesterday. A single steel truss spans the across the length of both roads. The superstructure of Entrance B has begun to form up, while the main entrance has been cast up to the bridge mezzanine level.

Due to the inclined elevation of the existing temporary decked road above the canal, the clearance between the temporary Bukit Timah Road and the new bridge is estimated to be about 5m, with only about 500mm of clearance observed above a double decker bus. While this is within the legal 4.5m limit, temporary height precaution barriers have been installed by the project team along Blackmore Drive and Bukit Timah Road prior to the POB.

Mined excavation of the tunnel linking the station to the ventilation building across Dunearn Road had recently been completed by the MacDow team. Formwork for the ventilation building superstructure has commenced, and the gantry crane is expected to be demobilized in the coming weeks. The reinstatement of Bukit Timah Road is scheduled by year end.

April 16

Turf Club Road Realigns

The realignment of Turf Club Road under ER461 was successfully completed and opened on Saturday morning. The realigned road now makes way for the subsequent reinstatement and completion of the Sixth Avenue station's entrance B - within which escalators have just been installed.

Along Bukit Timah Road, piling works have commenced on the POB's intermediate column that will surface along the canal bank. Beam launching works should take place by the end of this quarter once the column is cast.  The truss for the POB are being fabricated in 2 segments at the moment. The north segment is being fabricated at Entrance B and will be launched up over Dunearn Road. The south segment is being done up over at the main site and will be launched across Bukit Timah Road.

Casting of the ventilation building and entrance is almost completed, while backfilling has started over the station roof slab.

Piling works for the POB column (April 6)

Realigned Turf Club Road (April 13)

Sixth Avenue Superstructures

At the Sixth Avenue site, we review the progress of the 3 superstructures on the surface. Aerial and ground pictures were taken on February 25 and March 6 respectively.

1. Main Entrance cum Cooling Tower
At present, RC works are still at the first level with a slower progression as compared to KAP. As with Little India, Stevens and King Albert Park, the station design features an integration of the cooling tower and main entrance into one combined structure due to space constraints.

Due to this integration and the former delay in progress, Sixth Avenue is currently the only station within the Downtown Line 2 yet to have its cooling unit fitted and installed. It is noteworthy that this is also the only station yet to have backfilled despite the roof slab completed.

Aerial view of C917A, Sixth Avenue

King Albert Park Soars

Significant changes have taken place at the King Albert Park site where WK and I monitor the day-to-day progress upon passing by the site. Following the reopening of Blackmore Drive, Reinforced Concrete (RC) works on the entrance's superstructure has been on-going over the last 2 months. Casting has almost reached the ceiling of the second level, where the cooling units have been delivered and fitted.

Beside it, the staircase connecting the ground level to the future POB is also completed, and columns for the exterior of the mega entrance are going up. Formwork and falsework for the POB's intermediate column along Bt Timah Rd is also evident to the eye on site.

Entrance B
Across the road, piling works for the POB landing along Dunearn Rd took place over a span of 2 weeks towards the end of January, and the foundation is believed to have since been completed. We believe superstructural works on Entrance B will commence by the end of this month upon the completion of its sister entrance further down at the Sixth Avenue site. Photos in this update were taken on February 25.

Cooling units fitted into the second level of the superstructure (seen behind the second tree to the left)

Downtown Line 2

As the Downtown Line 2 progresses closer to its completion, the public will begin to notice considerable amount of changes to the site landscape on the surface, with the introduction of aesthetics fittings and mechanical/electrical installations to the superstructures. A short consolidated update today tracks the progress of the DTL2 over the first few weeks of 2015, prior to the next quarterly-update which me and WK hope to commence right after CNY.

January 23 - Reinstatement at Newton with the newly opened bus bay

Sixth Avenue Rises

The substructure of Sixth Avenue station is almost completed, with majority of its span already cast with its basement roof level - the ceiling level of an underground station box. Backfilling works should commence from next month onwards, and a subsequent diversion of Bukit Timah Road is expected for the demolishment of the temporary d-wall beneath the existing road.

Across the road, structural works on entrance B has begun and BSC should be achieved by March 2015. Lamp posts and signalled pedestrian crossing lights have been installed along the new Turf Club Road and we expect the opening of the new road within the next 1-2 months. Our aerial and surface pictures were taken on December 6 and 15 respectively.

We would like to thank our readers for your continuous support and contributions over the past year as our blog successfully turns One. 2015 will be a year filled with excitement as the project wraps up with its final surface reinstatement works and architectural touches. With this, we conclude our 4th Quarter updates for the DTL2 and wish all a Merry Christmas.

1 of the 20 odd trains in Gali Batu to commence testing along the mainline next year

Sixth Avenue worksite

Entrance closeup

Entrance B (December 15)

Turf Club Road

King Albert Park Backfilled

Works are now halfway through the duration of Blackmore Drive's closure, with reinstatement works taking place on the road curb. The superstructure of the King Albert Park exit has also surfaced where the deck road used to be. On the opposite side of the road, the team is still allowing time for the ground to settle before commencing any structural works on the POB.

Photos were taken on Dec 6.

King Albert Park worksite

Realigning Turf Club Road

Contract ER461 is a small road project that was tendered out at the beginning of this year. Awarded to Jupiter Builder at a contract sum of S$2.4m, the road project complements C917A by permanently realigning Turf Club Road so as to simplify the intersection design and make way for the bus bay at the future Sixth Avenue station's entrance B. Works commenced around 3 months back and are midway to completion.

The bus stop along Dunearn Road has been temporary relocated forward as the former bay lies in the path of the new road. The temporary bus stop will remain in place for another year or so until MacDow completes the permanent bus stop that will be integrated with the POB entrance. As part of the project, Dunearn Road will also be widened after the canal crossing at Sixth Avenue to extend the existing right-turning lane for the U-turn to Bukit Timah Road.

Casting for the POB landing's foundation had just begun this week. Across the road, escalators have also been lowered down the main entrance last week with yet another rare encounter.

Project information board displayed in prominence along Dunearn Road

Drawing of SAV B and the realigned Turf Club Road

New Turf Club Road

Blackmore Drive Closes

At the King Albert Park site, a temporary road closure of Blackmore Drive has been implemented at 1pm this afternoon. The alignment of the existing diverted road decks above a portion of the site area where the station's entrance will surface. Formwork for the entrance's staircase has already reached the edge of the road and it is time to commence work on the superstructure.

The project team has scheduled the closure of Blackmore Drive to tie in with the entire duration of the December holidays to minimize inconvenience to the students from MGS. Access to Casa Esperanza and MGS will be re-routed using Old Holland Road and Wilby Road during this duration. The road has begun demolishment works at once. The original alignment of Blackmore Drive will reinstate back on January 1, 2015.

We thank our reader Marcus and LTA for contributing to this update.

Advisory signage erected prior to the rerouted roads along Bukit Timah Road 

Closure of Blackmore Drive

Bukit Timah Road Realigns

Many changes have taken place across the various DTL2 sites over the last couple of days. This dedicated post would consolidate all the new developments.

Newton
One of the most significant milestone in the project timeline, C920 has completed its last phase of traffic diversion at the Newton site - the first DTL2 project to have done so. The slip road has been reconstructed over the backfilled launch shaft ahead of the projected Q4 2014 timeframe indicated on the road signages. Having diverted back the road, land is freed up to construct up the remaining segments of the entrance. Steel frames for the future walkway ramp has begun to form.

Reinstated Bukit Timah Road. Do note that the bus stop location is temporary.

Here is the recently completed escape shaft at Ferrell Residences. The site is temporary hoarded up.

Escape Shaft

Stevens
C919 will be carrying out one final traffic diversion at Stevens. This is for the hacking of the d-wall located below the existing road. Unlike the initial diversion back in 2011, the presence of the station superstructure now imposes an incredible site constraint. The road has been positioned and surfaced right up to the edge of the structure. The diversion will be carried out this Thursday.

Diversion works

Managed to get a glimpse of the entrance escalators being lowered down prior to road diversion preps as I was walking by the week before. A rare sighting.

September 12

September 12 - Escalator segment going down the entrance

Tan Kah Kee
Following the achievement of BSC for the expo bound tunnel to BTN, the final standalone gantry crane for DTL2 has been dismantled at the TKK launch shaft. Backfilling of the shaft will begin at once.

More photos below.

King Albert Park

Sixth Avenue and King Albert Park are currently trailing behind in progress with casting works still going on beneath the surface. Superstructure of the entrances and vent shafts will not appear until a further 4-6 months.

A render of the main entrance at KAP

King Albert Park station

Sixth Avenue

Sixth Avenue and King Albert Park are currently trailing behind in progress with casting works still going on beneath the surface. Superstructure of the entrances and vent shafts will not appear until a further 4-6 months. As the Expo bound tunnel was competed first, the tunnel has achieved BSC with the first stage concrete, allowing for trackworks to proceed from KAP to Sixth Avenue and ultimately reach Botanic Gardens.

Track laying into the Expo Bound tunnel between SAV and TKK C&C

A render of how the Sixth Avenue station entrance will look like with connecting Pedestrian Overhead Bridge.

Sixth Avenue station

S602 Breakthroughs, BP Bound Completes

Completion of all bored tunnels within DTL2

At last, the final TBM (S602) has docked into Sixth Avenue Station, concluding 36 months of tunnelling works for the entire Downtown Line 2 when S548 was first launched at Beauty World on 8 June 2011. McConnell Dowell, which coordinated this final TBM docking at Sixth Avenue, is the same contractor which facilitated the inaugural TBM launching at Beauty World 3 years ago. CP1&2 has been excavated and supported, while the last cross passage 3 is currently being mined.

We'd like to acknowledge Herrenknecht, Kawasaki and Hitachi Zosen, the manufacturers for the 19 TBMs along Stage 2. Herrenknecht AG has a renowned history in producing the quality S-number TBMs of various sizes and uses since 1975. The local demand for their machines have steadily grown over the years since the successful implementation of S134 and S135 between Farrer Park and Boon Keng stations along the North East Line. A further 9 machines were procured to construct the southern half of the bored tunnels for the Circle Line. 22 machines had been ordered throughout DTL2 and DTL3, and more will come with the increasing demand of upcoming metro lines.

Kawasaki from Japan delivered 5 machines that were ordered under GS and SK for Contract 913 and 915. Most of their machines used in Singapore are of the slurry type, with a few currently involved in the SP cable tunnel project. Hitachi Zosen supplied STEC 4 Earth Pressure Balance Machines under C920.

These sophisticated machinery would not have been able to operate without the hundreds of men working beneath the surface under immense pressure and poor ventilation. A very big thank you to the tunnelling team from all nationality.

Below is a flashback of the earlier few TBM launches along the stage.

Inaugural launch at Beauty World

Contract 917A & 918A

Macdow has closed Fourth Avenue earlier this month to facilitate the movement of construction machinery between the previously-segregated sites. We thank one of our readers, Marcus Tan for writing in to us to inform us of the closure. This is an example of how informative contributions of site & tunneling updates can be, and are warmly welcomed. We encourage more to contact us via the feedback portal on the right sidebar.

Currently, the lane has been planned to remain closed until the completion of works in January 2016, however the project team has assured me that they will try to expedite works and push for an earlier reinstatement, possibly by the end of next year.

Signage showing the closure of Fourth Avenue