Pre-construction: Changi East depot

The main depot for the Cross Island Line (CRL) will be located at Changi East, bounded by Aviation Park and Tanah Merah Coast roads. Currently the land sits as an undeveloped, vegetated portion of reclaimed land along the coast. Come 2021 however, works will begin to transform the land into an operational depot supporting the operations of the CRL.

28 September 2019 - A view along Tanah Merah Coast Road of the future depot to be located on the right.

Next station - Turf City

Last week the Land Transport Authority (LTA) released the Phase 2 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the route of the Cross Island Line (CRL) through the central catchment nature reserve (CCNR). The report detailed the construction methods and locations of the construction sites for two alignment options through and around the nature reserve.

Part of the report includes graphical representation of the route alignment options. Directions on either end of the alignment diagrams show the approximate locations of the stations. In the eastward direction "To Sin Ming" is shown, where Bright Hill station is located. Towards the west, "To Turf City" is used. This should correlate to a station being built in the vicinity of the former Turf Club in Bukit Timah.

Alignment option 1 through the CCNR.
Source: LTA EIA

Alignment option 2 around the CCNR.
Source: LTA EIA

Contract tendering process begins

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has recently released tenders for 2 contracts as part of the Cross Island Line (CRL) civil works, beginning the process for release of all 17 expected civil works contracts. Contract CR101 for the Design and Construction of Changi East depot was released on 16 August 2019, followed by contract CR105 for the Design and Construction of a large single bore tunnel from Aviation Park station to Loyang station on 23 August 2019.

This marks the first time that LTA has explored the use of a large-diameter tunnel boring machine to create a single bore tunnel between stations. All MRT projects prior have used twin bored tunnels which are essentially separate tubes for each track direction. A single large bore on the other hand will utilise a single tube tunnel with dividing wall to separate the two tracks.

Cross section of CRL single bore tunnel. Visible are the overhead rigid catenary supports, tunnel dividing wall and other
ancillary structures.
Source: Christian Arellano