Cross Island Line Construction: CRL1 year-end update 2023

10 stations of the Cross Island Line's phase 1 as at end-2023.
Aviation Park & Defu are not represented in this post.

Sorry this post was a little delayed - got caught up between travelling & work. But we're here and made it to 27th December after all. For this post, we're covering the 10 stations that we have the most pictures of along the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s phase 1. The 2 stations not covered in the post today are Aviation Park and Defu. We may cover them at a later time. Nonetheless, it has been an eventful year for the CRL with the groundbreaking ceremony being held in January 2023. Construction has been well under way at all sites with work in full swing for the construction of the earth retaining & stabilising structures (ERSS). Several intermediate launch shafts have been built as well and excavation commenced at a few sites in particular.

Please be fair warned that this post is a mega-post and extremely photo-heavy. It may suck up a lot of your bandwith after the jump.

CR3 - Loyang [Contract CR106]
It has been an exciting year for Loyang station with the first major milestone being the closure of Loyang Avenue which runs on top of the station. Traffic was and will be diverted to Loyang Way for a period of approximately 7 years. Since Loyang Avenue's closure, the site has been turned into a large area where heavy machinery has moved in to construct the diaphragm walls for the station.

11 February 2023

30 March 2023

10 May 2023

1 October 2023

10 December 2023

CR4 - Pasir Ris East [Contract CR107]
Over at Pasir Ris East, the contract began transforming the section of Pasir Ris Drive 1 closed at end-2022 into a work site proper. Street furniture was dismantled and the pedestrian overhead bridge demolished to make room for heavy machinery, slurry silos and diaphragm walls. Noise barriers were put up around the site to dampen the noise generated from the works. A launch shaft for adjacent contract CR106 is being built at the station's eastern end and ERSS works were concentrated around this area during the early ERSS construction. More machines have since been deployed and are actively constructing the diaphragm wall panels elsewhere along the site.

27 December 2022

30 March 2023

12 August 2023

17 September 2023

19 October 2023

10 December 2023

CR5 | CP1 - Pasir Ris [Contract CR108]
A major milestone at Pasir Ris Central was the closure of the eastbound lanes of Pasir Ris Drive 1 to facilitate construction. Traffic heading westbound, on the other hand, could still use a small section of the existing roadway to exit the estate but could no longer use it to continue across the town. ERSS works were underway at both ends of the station where cut & cover tunnels will be located.

11 February 2023

30 March 2023

24 June 2023

12 August 2023

17 September 2023

1 October 2023

8 October 2023

12 October 2023

19 October 2023

10 December 2023

CR6 - Tampines North [Contract CR109]
Over the past year, it seems that the construction of diaphragm walls for the Tampines North station have been completed. Work now seems focused on excavation and strengthening of the soil where the station box will be located. Judging by progress at the end of the year, it seems that the station may be one of the few to be built in an open cut, from the bottom-up. This might be similar to how Bayshore and Bedok South stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) were built. If so, it provides an excellent opportunity to see the progress of the station from an aerial perspective - something that was not readily available for the TEL stations.

30 March 2023

12 August 2023

19 October 2023

10 December 2023

CR8 - Hougang [Contract CR112]
Hougang station was one of the first few civil contracts awarded for the CRL. Over the past year, ERSS works have wrapped up at the northern end of the station and progressed to the casting of the various rings that support the launch shaft. As at the end of the year, approximately 3 such rings had been built, with excavation continuing downwards.

Further afield, the roof slab of a new entrance was cast before work continues below for the excavation of the connecting subway. With work at such an advanced stage, it is highly likely that tunneling works will begin soon with the installation of a gantry crane at the launch shaft. Components of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) should also begin arriving at the staging site ahead of installation in the launch shaft next year.

19 March 2023

7 May 2023

2 June 2023

15 June 2023

27 June 2023

10 July 2023

13 July 2023

22 July 2023

6 August 2023

2 September 2023

14 September 2023

21 September 2023

19 October 2023

26 November 2023

9 December 2023

17 December 2023

CR9 - Serangoon North [Contract CR113]
A lot of changes have taken place at Serangoon North over the last year. Works to built the station box are in full swing with ERSS works being undertaken at various sites within the contract. Near Bowen Secondary School, a shaft for Exit 4 is being built. This will also allow for the contractor to create a subway linking the exit to the main station box.

With work underway, several measures are being put in place to assist manage noise disturbances. These include sound dampeners and noise barriers, which have become prevalent around the site. A recent news article highlighted the plight of some of the commercial units at the town centre which have suffered from declining sales due to lower footfall in the area as a result of construction hoarding blocking them from pedestrians' views. Potentially a clear hoarding might have helped, instead of the coloured ones that we see in the aerial shots.

23 February 2023

19 March 2023

23 March 2023

10 June 2023

23 July 2023

20 August 2023

21 September 2023

26 October 2023

16 November 2023

21 December 2023

CR10 - Tavistock [Contract CR115]

To borrow a quote from Dr. Amy Khor, the road danced over at Tavistock this past year, with the diversion of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 having taken place. A once tree-lined roadway, the greenery has since made way for the road to be shifted closer to the north. This has allowed contractor Sato Kogyo to create a work site along the southern edge of the station for the installation of a noise barrier before the construction of the ERSS commences.

Across the Central Expressway, work also commenced for an intermediate launch shaft that would support tunneling works to both Ang Mo Kio station in the west and to Serangoon North via Tavistock station to the east. When the street level structures were completed around Q3, excavation work commenced. Progressively, the shaft will emerge ahead of tunneling work which is likely to commence next year.

23 February 2023

19 March 2023

10 June 2023

29 June 2023

23 July 2023

21 September 2023

26 October 2023

16 November 2023

21 December 2023

CR11 - Ang Mo Kio [Contract CR116]
The site at Ang Mo Kio station has changed dramatically with a part of the town gardens being used for construction. Betonite slurry silos now sit at the foot of the gardens on the hillock, easily spotted due to their vibrant red colour. The outline of some ERSS walls can be made out and residents have put up with the noise during their construction. Unfortunately for safety reasons, the construction of ERSS diaphragm wall panels needs to be conducted continuously until the panel is completed to prevent weakening of the surrounding soil which may cause undesired effects. There is good news for residents though, as d each day is a day closer to the ERSS' completion. Works after this phase are generally less noisy and with the station being constructed in a top-down manner, likely to be contained within the underground box structure.

23 February 2023

25 February 2023

19 March 2023

21 May 2023

10 June 2023

29 June 2023

23 July 2023

19 August 2023

26 October 2023

16 November 2023

21 December 2023

19 March 2023

10 June 2023

23 July 2023

19 August 2023

26 October 2023

21 December 2023

CR12 - Teck Ghee [Contract N109A]

Teck Ghee station is being constructed differently from all other stations on the CRL. As the station lies below a pair of expressway tunnels, the method used for construction here differs slightly. We had expected that ERSS construction would have been done for both the eastern and western flanks of the structure, however this was only done on the western flank and centre median. The initial structure was cast with several openings catered for. Backfilling over the roof slab of the expressway is underway meaning that the remainder of construction will use a top-down method where excavation continues beneath the roof slab. Once a sufficiently long stretch is completed, the roadway may shift again for work on the ERSS along the eastern flank, to repeat the process on the opposite side.

19 March 2023

10 June 2023

19 August 2023

21 December 2023

CR13 - Bright Hill [Contract CR117]

Congratulations for making it this far! You must be really committed to have scrolled all the way here! Thanks for all the effort to read through. We're now at the last station in this update, which also happens to be the western terminus for phase 1 of the CRL. Bright Hill has seen the mobilisation of the entire site over this past year, with the ERSS works focused on the eastern end where a launch shaft will be located.

19 March 2023

29 June 2023

19 August 2023

20 August 2023

23 October 2023

21 December 2023

With an eventful 2023 now well underway, works have progressed incredibly quickly. Progress may not be as apparent as compared to that along the Jurong Region Line (JRL), but 2024 brings exciting, new milestones to be met - such as the commencement of tunneling works. Do be sure to check back as we continue to bring you updates over time.

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Cross Island Line Construction

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

CRL1 year-end update 2023

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