international
construction
june 2014
REGIONALREPORT: ASIAPACIFIC
20
Pace settingAsia
surface constructionwould not be viable
in Asia’s large and densely populated
cities.
For example, this year has seen three
5.23 m diameter Robbins Main Beam
tunnel boring machines (TBMs)
complete excavation of the Pahang
Selangor Raw Water Tunnel in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, which at 44.6 km
long is the longest tunnel in Southeast
Asia. This challenging project passes
through the Titiwangsa mountain range
under cover ashigh as 1,246m andbelow
geothermal features including hot springs, and is designed to
provide the city with enough fresh water for projected future
demand.
TheSNUI contracting consortium comprising Japan’sShimizu
Corporation and Nishimatsu Construction Corporation
(NCC), along with local companies UEM Builders and IJM
also had to contend with boring through hard granite and
multiple fault zones, which informed the decision to use three
TBMs on separate drives.
According to Robbins, the machines maintained excellent
advance rates despite the fault zones, variable rock conditions,
high rock temperatures, and frequent electrical storms that
required machine stoppage. Due to the hot springs, water
ingress at temperatures up to 56° C was recorded. Maximum
advance rates of 49m in one day, 198m in one week, and 657
m in onemonthwere nonetheless achieved.
Meanwhile inChina,Herrenknecht signed anorder inApril to
supply two TBMs to contractor Shanghai Tunnel Engineering
Co., Ltd. (STEC) for further expansion of the Wuhan metro
system.This is part of theproject to add four lines to the existing
three-line network by 2017 taking its total length to 215 km.
The two 15.8m diameterMixshieldTBMs will cross 39.5m
under the surface of the Yangtze River to create a 2.59 km long
twin-bore double-deck tunnel. There will be a three-lane road
on the upper deck, withmetro line 7 below.
Inter-city rail schemes are also significant in the region, thanks
largely to the Chinese government’s heavy focus on high-speed
rail schemes. One such project is the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-
Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) project in Southern
T
he capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, is
due to have a new road connection
between the city centre and the
Noi Bai International Airport by the end of
the year. The route of this eight-lane road
- four for each direction - crosses theRed
River via a 3.08 km bridge.
A Joint Venture formed between Japan’s
IHI Infrastructure Systems and Sumitomo
Mitsui Construction, is building theNhat
Tan Bridge, which features five A-shaped
concrete pylons every 300m of themain
1.5 km section.
Each of these features an 18 tonne Linden Comansa 21LC550 tower cranewith
50m of jib and 11 tower sections for a freestanding height of 63.8m. Erecting the cranes
themselveswas a challenge, as they are surrounded bywater, so crawler cranes sitting on
barges had to be used.
However, since 2009, the tower cranes haveworkedwithout issues to lift all thematerials
related to the construction of the pylons, including formwork, rebar cages and concrete.
The 21LC550s have also helped to unroll and place the cables of the bridge, aswell as to
raise the cable anchor boxes to the top of the pylons.
Project manager Hitoshi Yamaji, fromSumitomoMitsui Construction said, ”The five
21LC550 tower cranesworkedwell during our pylon constructionwithout any trouble.
In addition, themaintenance and technical support by their well trained technicians
were satisfactory. We got the best decision by choosing Linden Comansa cranes for our
constructionworks; otherwise, I think it would have been difficult for us to complete our
project on time”.
TheNhat Tan Bridge is due for completion inOctober, following a 60month construction
schedule, in time for the 60th anniversary of Hanoi Capital LiberationDay.
Bridge cranes
LindenComansa towers build3 kmHanoi link
At 44.6 km long, the Pahang Selangor
RawWater Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia is the longest tunnel in South-
East Asia. Consortium SNUI completed
the excavation in challenging
conditions earlier this year using three
Robbins TBMs.
Herrenknecht chairmanMartin
Herrenknecht and STEC general
manager Yu Xuanping, sign
contracts for the supply of two
15.8m diameter TBMs for the
expansion of theWuhan,
Chinametro system.
