19th WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATED RESEARCH CENTRES FOR THE URBAN UNDERGROUND SPACE, Belgrade, Serbia, November 4-7, 2025. (Paper No: 2.5.32, pp. 309-317)
АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Hooi Leng Phua, Maznah Mohd Ali, Michelle Wu, Anand Kumar Pochambavi Pochambavi, Si Thu Aung
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DOI: 10.46793/ACUUS2025.2.5.32
САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:
Singapore is highly built-up city-state with very limited land for development to meet its very needs. Hence, to optimise the land, majority of Singapore’s Metro Lines are underground to free up the above ground spaces, and intensify the development potential and land value capture.
The fully underground Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will be Singapore’s sixth metro line. Stretching 43 kilometers long with 32 stations, it is progressively being opened in stages from 2020 to 2026. The TEL will connect to all of Singapore existing MRT lines at eight interchange stations. Of these, Woodlands Station is one of the largest stations and will connect to the existing elevated Station. Being at the center of Woodlands Regional Center development in the nexus of Singapore’s Northern Region, the new Woodlands Station will also be integrated with existing and future developments to form a seamless multi-modal transport hub, and also house other commercial and civic uses.
The construction of Woodlands Station presented significant engineering challenges, ranging from excavation in soft ground to hard granite, and in very close proximity to the foundations and viaduct piers of the existing operational elevated MRT line. This required innovative construction techniques and close performance monitoring. The work site was overcrowded with many major underground utilities serving the key industries, commercial developments and residential estates which had to be carefully treated. The construction of this station also affected a bus interchange and electrical substations, which had to be relocated in advance as mitigation measures to construction and programme risks. It is also one of the largest stations on TEL which by its scale and geometry poised unique challenge to the design of the temporary earth retaining system.
This paper presents the challenges to the station’s design and construction and how it was successfully executed.
КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:
Underground, Challenges, Innovative, Construction, Performance