THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SINGAPORE

THE www.ies.org.sg

SINGAPORE
ENGINEER
January 2018 | MCI (P) 003/03/2017

COVER STORY:
GREYFORM OPENS FACILITY
TO PRODUCE PREFABRICATED
BUILDING ELEMENTS

FACADE ENGINEERING: Use of toothed anchor channels

PLUS STANDARDISATION: Applica on of railway standards by the Land Transport Authority
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING: Charging Ahead
 CONTENTS
FEATURES

COVER STORY
30 Greyform opens facility to produce prefabricated
building elements
The Greyform Building in Kaki Bukit Road 6
is the second Integrated Construction and
Prefabrication Hub (ICPH). It was officially opened 31
in October 2017.

FAÇADE ENGINEERING
32 Use of toothed anchor channels
In designing a structure to withstand seismic
ac ons, the detailing process, specifica on of the
materials and selec on of the products are also
important.
32
STANDARDISATION
33 Applica on of Railway Standards by the Land
Transport Authority
Over the years, Singapore has adopted best
interna onal pra ces from the railway industry and
is now in a posi on to contribute towards future
developments of interna onal railway standards.

34

President Publica ons Manager Editorial Panel Design & layout by 2EZ Asia Pte Ltd
Er. Edwin Khew Desmond Teo Er. Chong Kee Sen
Dr Chandra Segaran Cover designed by Irin Kuah
desmond@iesnet.org.sg
Chief Editor Dr Ang Keng Been Cover images by Greyform Pte Ltd
T Bhaskaran Assistant Publica ons Manager Dr Victor Sim
t_b_n8@yahoo.com Fenda Ngo Mr Kenneth Cheong Published by
fenda.ngo@iesnet.org.sg Mr Gary Ong The Ins tu on of Engineers, Singapore
Chief Execu ve 70 Bukit Tinggi Road, Singapore 289758
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02 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 www.ies.org.sg

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
36 Charging Ahead
Once a pipe dream, electric vehicles are gaining
rapid trac on. What are their benefits, and what
will secure their widespread use in the future?

PERSPECTIVE
42 The accelera on of change 36
Technology is increasing the pace of change and
disrup ng every aspect of modern life. Engineers
of the future will face a cri cal challenge to lead,
shape, plan and integrate the built environment
solu ons that allow society to live safe and
rewarding lives.

REGULAR SECTIONS
04 INDUSTRY NEWS
21 EVENTS
44 IES UPDATE

43

The Singapore Engineer is published monthly by The Ins tu on of Engineers, Singapore (IES). The publica on is distributed free-of-charge
to IES members and affiliates. Views expressed in this publica on do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or IES. All rights reserved.
No part of this magazine shall be reproduced, mechanically or electronically, without the prior consent of IES. Whilst every care is taken
to ensure accuracy of the content at press me, IES will not be liable for any discrepancies. Unsolicited contribu ons are welcome but
their inclusion in the magazine is at the discre on of the Editor.

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 03

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

CAAS AWARDS CONTRACT TO DEVELOP

SMART DIGITAL TOWER PROTOTYPE
The Civil Avia on Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has
awarded UK-based Air Traffic Management service
provider NATS a SGD 7 million contract to develop a
smart digital tower prototype. It will be trialled at Changi
Airport over a period of 22 months, a er which an
evalua on will be made of its opera onal feasibility and
suitability for deployment here.
A smart digital tower, equipped with a range of assis ve
func onali es and features, is envisioned to enhance air
traffic management and safety of runway and ground
opera ons, and to increase opera onal efficiencies at
Changi Airport. The awarded contract includes the set-
up of mul ple fixed-posi on cameras to feed live video
images onto a large video wall. This will provide a similar
view to what air traffic controllers currently see from a
physical control tower.
The trial will employ advanced camera and video s tch-
ing technologies, thus enabling be er display of informa-
on. For instance, the video cameras can automa cally
pan, lt, and zoom, to enable a closer look at objects
and/or areas of interest.
Director-General of CAAS Kevin Shum, said: “In concert
with Singapore’s Smart Na on drive, we are leveraging
digital technology to transform the avia on industry in
Singapore in many different ways. We look forward to
working closely with NATS to co-develop the opera onal
procedures and processes required to deploy the smart
digital tower for Changi Airport.”

SURBANA JURONG STRENGTHENS ENGINEERING

CAPABILITIES WITH AUSTRALIAN ACQUISITION
Surbana Jurong announced late last year the acquisi on of Robert Prior to joining the Surbana Jurong Group, RBG has worked success-
Bird Group (RBG). Established in 1982, RBG is a privately owned, fully with Surbana Jurong in the past including on the Wes n Hotel
global consul ng engineering firm headquartered in Australia Darwin and the Queensland Government’s Logan Enhancement
with offices in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Project. The two companies are also partners in joint tenders.
Southeast Asia.
About Robert Bird Group
It is renowned for delivering structural, civil and construc on
Robert Bird Group is a specialist consul ng engineering firm with
services on iconic complex projects, including London’s Wes ield
over 500 staff across more than 10 offices located around the
Shopping Centre, Dubai’s ICD Brookfield Place tower, and Sydney’s
globe. It offers consul ng engineering services to the public and
One Central Park tower and Darling Harbour Live development.
private sector across five disciplines within the built environment:
According to a statement issued by Surbana Jurong, “The acqui- Structural engineering; Civil engineering; Construc on engineer-
si on of RBG will further deepen Surbana Jurong Group’s urban ing; Geotechnical engineering (UK only); Digital engineering (BIM
development capabili es and extend its geographical reach, filling Management, 4D Visualisa on, and Digital Design).
the Group’s current market gaps and crea ng more synergies for
its urban and infrastructure businesses.”
This latest acquisi on con nues the Group’s growth strategy, fol-
lowing its acquisi on of Australia-based infrastructure consultancy
SMEC Holdings Ltd last year.
“I am excited to welcome the Robert Bird Group into the Surbana
Jurong Group of companies as RBG will deepen Surbana Jurong’s core
engineering capabili es, both in design and construc on engineer-
ing,” said Mr Wong Heang Fine, Group CEO of Surbana Jurong.
RBG founder and Chairman Robert Bird said, “This agreement rep-
resents the next stage of growth for the Robert Bird Group, with
closer alignment to Surbana Jurong giving us the opportunity to
access new projects around the world for a wider base of clients.
We also see this as being a natural fit given the synergies of our
two businesses in terms of geography, competencies and clients.” ICD Brookfield Place, one of RBG’s projects. Image: RBG

04 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018

NOVOZYMES AND GRUNDFOS KICK OFF
COLLABORATION FOR CLEAN WATER
Biotech specialist Novozymes and pump manufacturer Grund-
fos have teamed up in an open innova on collabora on to find
new solu ons to the world’s water challenges.
The partnership takes place on HelloScience.io, an online uni-
verse first launched by Novozymes in September 2017, where
entrepreneurs, startups and others can connect with industry
to tackle problems related to the United Na ons’ Sustainable
Development Goals.
Four specific challenges have been posted online since December
last year, allowing the HelloScience community to pitch their ideas
on how to secure clean water for more people and receive both
input and assistance from Novozymes and Grundfos.
The two companies seek solu ons to remove pollu ng chem-
icals from water and improve wastewater cleaning. That in-
INDUSTRY NEWS
cludes be er filtering, less sludge, and recovery of phosphate,
a precious nutrient, from wastewater.
Grundfos Group Vice President for Technology & Innova on Lars
Enevoldsen said, “This is an excellent chance to see what we can
do in combina on with Novozymes. Adding biotechnology to what
we can do in, for instance, digital dosing might very well open
brand-new possibili es, for example, in water treatment.
“And while we strengthen our connec on with Novozymes,
we also get an opportunity to review fresh takes on the water
challenges from all over the world. We need new partnerships
to solve these great challenges, and this is another step down
that road.”
The HelloScience pla orm and its posted challenges can be
viewed at: h ps://helloscience.io/.
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 05
January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

SINGTEL AND NTU SET UP

CORPORATE LAB FOR AI AND DATA SCIENCE
To spearhead R&D efforts in emerging technologies that
will support Singapore’s transforma on into a Smart
Na on and help enable the country’s digital economy,
Singtel has partnered with NTU and the Agency for
Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to set up a
SGD 42.4 million corporate lab that will focus on these
disrup ve fields.
The lab, to be called Singtel Cogni ve and Ar ficial Intelli-
gence Lab for Enterprises (SCALE@NTU), is also support-
ed by the Na onal Research Founda on (NRF). Under a
five-year-partnership, the partners will develop applica ons
for use in the areas of public safety, smart urban solu ons,
transporta on, healthcare and manufacturing.
Through their collec ve exper se and resources, they
also aim to accelerate innova on in the fields of AI, ad-
vanced data analy cs, robo cs and smart compu ng.
Mr Bill Chang, CEO, Group Enterprise at Singtel, said,
“As businesses face the rising threat of technological
disruptions, companies are constantly seeking innova-
tive ways to gain deeper insights through data analyt-
ics, better engage their customers and transform their
operations. To help companies address these chal-
lenges, we are stepping up our R&D efforts to develop
deep capabilities in these focused areas.”
Professor Lam Khin Yong, NTU’s Ac ng Provost, Chief of
Staff and Vice President (Research) added, “For Singa-
pore to achieve its Smart Na on vision, we have to keep
pushing the fron ers of AI and develop innova ve ways
to process, analyse and u lise big data. This is how the
collabora ve effort between Singtel and NTU on cogni-
ve compu ng will make a huge impact, improving pro-
duc vity for businesses while making our ci es smarter
and more efficient.”
Over the next five years, this partnership is expected to
expand the product range of Singtel and its regional ICT
subsidiary NCS. Some 100 researchers from Singtel and
NTU will work at SCALE@NTU, while another 200 re-
search engineers, graduate and undergraduate students
will also be trained in the lab.
Singtel and A*STAR will also work together on projects
including smart building automa on systems, robo cs
and Internet of Things (IoT) applica ons that could help
boost opera ng efficiencies in various industries. Such
technologies can be tested on Singtel’s NarrowBand-IoT
and 5G mobile network in a model factory to be set up
by A*STAR next year.

FIRST CHINESE SMART TECHNOLOGY ENABLED SHIP LAUNCHED

China’s first smart ship, christened “Great Intelligence” (pic-
tured), was launched in December 2017 at Marintec China
industry event.
A 38,800 dwt modified version of the Green Dolphin fuel-effi-
cient bulk carrier concept, the ship was designed by the Shanghai
Merchant Ship Design and Research Ins tute (SDARI) and built
at Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, a subsidiary of China State
Shipbuilding Corpora on (CSSC).
It meets Lloyd’s Register (LR) requirements for cyber-enabled
ships (CES), including Cyber AL2 Safe (Naviga on, Propulsion,
Photo: Lloyd’s Register
Steering), Cyber AL2 Maintain (M/E, A/E, Boiler, Sha ) and Cyber
AL2 Perform (Energy Management).
Furthermore, an intelligent naviga on system, which enables
The System Engineering Research Ins tute (SERI) and China Class
the ship to u lise collected data to op mise shipping routes, has
Society (CCS) were also involved in this project.
been built in. It is capable of avoiding iden fied obstacles and
The Great Intelligence is equipped with a Ship Opera on and areas with adverse meteorological condi ons, for example.
Maintenance System (SOMS) that uses advanced sensing tech-
However, final naviga on orders will s ll be issued by its crew.
nology to build its network, and features self-learning capabili es
and internal diagnos c systems. The smart-enabled ship has since passed factory acceptance
tests and sea trials, and will be used by Sinotrans Shipping
The system is also used to provide health management, energy
to transport coal and salt between China, Australia and
efficiency management, and an intelligent integra on pla orm
Southeast Asia.
to the vessel.

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January 2018
 INDUSTRY NEWS

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 07

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASSES
CONSTRUCTED USING NEW TUNNELLING TECH
As part of the works for Thomson-East Coast Line
(TEL), LTA embarked on a pilot project to construct
pedestrian underpasses with a Rectangular Tunnel
Boring Machine (RTBM) at two sites at Havelock and
Stevens stations to leverage on this method to in-
crease productivity.
The RTBM features a rectangular shield box jacking
technique which makes use of the principles of an
Earth Pressure Balance Machine during excavation.
The thrust cylinders in the box jack remains in the
shaft, and push forward the entire box segment. New
segments are installed within the shaft as the machine
advances. As the RTBM advances and cuts through the
soil, it turns the excavated material into a soil paste
that is used as pliable, plastic support medium, to bal-
ance the pressure conditions at the tunnel face.
Compared to conventional cut-and-cover methods
used in other construction projects, the trenchless
method with an RTBM brings about an estimated 30
per cent increased productivity through a reduction
in manpower, and provides better continuity of work,
higher quality and workmanship.
The RTBM was first launched at the site of Havelock
station under Zion Road in May 2016 and completed
its drive after six months in November 2016. As op-
posed to the use of conventional cut-and-cover meth-
od, the use of the RTBM resulted in a much shorter
construction duration.
It was then deployed at the site of Stevens station to
construct a 60m-long pedestrian underpass beneath
Dunearn Road and the Bukit Timah Canal.
Tunnelling works for the pedestrian underpass was com-
pleted in January 2018. It will be open for public use 2020,
ahead of the comple on of the TEL Stevens sta on.
This will benefit pedestrians, such as students from
Singapore Chinese Girls’ School and St Joseph’s Insti-
tution, who will be able to cross Dunearn Road and
Bukit Timah Road safely with the new underpass that
connects Stevens station with these schools.

Simplified cross-sec onal diagram

of an RTBM (Image: LTA)

08 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

PUBLIC SECTOR CONSTRUCTION

DEMAND IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN THIS YEAR

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) proj-
ects the total construction demand, ie the value of
construction contracts to be awarded this year to
range between SGD 26.0 billion and SGD 31.0 billion,
up from the SGD 24.5 billion (preliminary estimate)
awarded in 2017.
The projected higher construction demand is due to
an anticipated increase in public sector construction
demand which is expected to grow from the SGD 15.5
billion in 2017 to between SGD 16 billion and SGD 19
billion this year, contributing to about 60% of 2018’s
total projected demand.
Public construction demand is expected to be boosted
by an anticipated increase in demand for institutional
and other buildings such as healthcare facilities, and
civil engineering works, as well as a slate of smaller
government projects that have been brought forward
in response to the slowdown in the previous years.
The private sector’s construction demand is similarly
expected to improve from SGD 9 billion in 2017 to
between SGD 10 billion and SGD 12 billion in 2018, on
the back of a strengthened overall economic outlook
and the upturn in property market sentiment.
Projects slated to be awarded this year include:
• Residential projects - a steady pipeline of new public
housing construction, upgrading works for HDB flats,
and a number of upcoming sizeable condominium
projects earmarked for development at Shunfu Road,
Stirling Road, Hougang Avenue 7 and Upper Seran-
goon Road.
• Commercial projects - major upcoming office build-
ing projects slated for development at likely loca-
tions such as Central Boulevard and Harbour Drive.
• Industrial projects - an automo ve hub at Jalan
Terusan and a mul -storey recycling facility in Northern
Singapore.
• Institutional and other building projects - more
healthcare facilities such as the redevelopment of
National Skin Centre at Mandalay Road and Wood-
lands Integrated Health Campus, various educational
facilities for Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) as

DfMA Technologies ≤$40m $40m< X ≤$85m $85m< X ≤ $150m $150m < X ≤ $300m >$300m Total

Prefabricated
Prefinished Volumetric 2 3 12 13 4 34
Construc on (PPVC)

Mass Engineered
5 1 2 0 0 8
Timber (MET)

Structural Steel 17 1 0 4 4 26

Hybrid/ Mul -tech 1 3 2 2 5 13

Total 25 8 16 19 13 81

Disclaimer: The above informa on is provided to the best of BCA’s knowledge. All figures in the above table, including project values, are indica ve only,
and subject to change without no ce. BCA will not be liable for any loss or damages (including any special, indirect, incidental or consequen al damages)
which may be incurred from any use of or reliance on the informa on contained in the above table.
Table 1: Expected number of upcoming DfMA projects

10 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018

well as private sector investments in developing na-
ture based attractions and recreational facilities for
tourists at Mandai Park.
• Civil engineering projects - major contracts for the
North-South Corridor, new MRT works and Deep
Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) Phase 2 as well as
rolling out of the remaining package for Runway 3 by
Changi Airport Group.
Last year’s total construc on demand was lower than
expected as there was a rescheduling of a few major public
sector infrastructure projects, such as for the North- South
Corridor, to 2018. Longer prepara on mes are required to
implement these large-scale and complex projects.
Despite the shor all from the forecast, total preliminary
public sector construc on demand last year was SGD
15.5 billion - a level slightly higher than in 2016 - whilst
the preliminary private sector construc on demand of
SGD 9.0 billion was within the original forecast range of
SGD 8.0 billion to SGD 11.0 billion.
With sustained emphasis on construction productivity
and quality improvement, projects prescribing Design
for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) technologies
have become more prevalent in recent years. Table 1
shows the expected number of upcoming DfMA proj-
ects in Singapore, with construction tenders expected
to be called in 2018 and 2019.
The number of DfMA projects to be put up for tender
is expected to increase in 2019 as more of such proj-
ects are firmed up. These latest numbers are being
shared to enable industry to better size the upcoming
demand for these new technologies.
Forecast for 2019 to 2022
BCA anticipates a steady improvement in construction
demand over the medium term. Demand is projected
to reach between SGD 26 billion and SGD 33 billion
per annum for 2019 and 2020 and could pick up to
between SGD 28 billion and SGD 35 billion per annum
for 2021 and 2022.
Construc on Demand
(Value of Contracts Awarded)
Year
Public Private
2017p $15.5 billion $9.0 billion
2018 f $16 – 19 billion $10 – 12 billion
2019 – $16 – 20 billion
2020 f (50% from
building projects - -
2021 – and 50% from
civil engineering
2022 f
projects)
p: preliminary f: forecast
Table 2: Construc on Demand and Construc on Output
INDUSTRY NEWS
The public sector will continue to lead demand and is
expected to contribute SGD 16 billion to SGD 20 billion
per annum in 2019 to 2022, with similar proportions
of demand contributed by building projects and civil
engineering works.
Besides public housing developments and healthcare
and educational facilities, public sector construction
demand over the medium-term will continue to be
supported by major infrastructure projects which
include various developments for Changi Airport Ter-
minal 5 and land transport projects such as the Cross
Island Line, Jurong Region Line, Rapid Transit System
and High Speed Rail.
In addition, private sector construction demand is ex-
pected to also increase gradually in the medium term,
boosted by the redevelopment of en-bloc sale sites
and the spill-over benefits generated by the improved
performance and outlook in other economic sectors.
Construction output
Based on the contracts awarded in the past few years
and taking into account the construction demand
forecast for 2018, total nominal construction output
in 2018 is projected to remain subdued at between
SGD 26 billion and SGD 28 billion, as compared to the
estimated SGD 28 billion in 2017.
This is due to the continued drag from the significant
slowdown in private sector construction demand since
2015. Looking ahead at the improved market outlook
in the next few years, construction output is anticipat-
ed to strengthen over the medium term.
The industry should take the opportunity to build
up its capabilities in the area of construction quality
excellence through the adoption of effective and pro-
ductive construction methods such as DfMA. BCA will
continue to work with tripartite partners to transform
the industry and realise the vision of the Construction
Industry Transformation Map (ITM).
Construc on Output
(Value of Cer fied Progress Payments)
Total Total
$24.5 billion ~$28 billion
$26 – 31 billion $26 – 28 billion
$26 – 33 billion
$28 – 35 billion
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 11
January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

NTU JTC’S NEW COATING

KEEPS ITS COOL EVEN WHEN THE HEAT IS ON

Holding steel plates coated with FiroShield of different colours are, from left, Mr Ng Yan Hao, PhD student, NTU; Mr Ng Kian Wee, Principal
Engineer, Civil and Structural Department, JTC; Prof Tan Kang Hai, NTU; Asst Prof Aravind Dasari, NTU; Mr Koh Chwee, Director, Technical Services
Division, JTC and Co-Director, I3 Centre; and Dr Indraneel S Zope, Research Fellow, NTU.

Scien sts from Nanyang Technological University, Singa-
pore (NTU) and na onal industrial developer JTC came
up with the idea for a new coa ng, when they were
figuring out a commercially viable solu on to protect
reinforced concrete against underground fires. A er
two years of intensive research and development by the
interdisciplinary team, an affordable product, that offers
enhanced fire and corrosion protec on, was invented.
Named FiroShield, the new 3-in-1 coa ng is expected
to be cheaper and less laborious to apply and it would
func on aesthe cally like normal paint.
Exis ng steel structures in buildings are usually coated
with a fire-retardant layer to shield the bare metal from
damage by fire and meet the fire protec on standard of
two hours - aimed at giving occupants enough me to
evacuate the building.
According to the team of scien sts from NTU and engi-
neers from JTC, today’s conven onal intumescent coat-
ings are thick, more expensive and laborious to apply. To
achieve a two-hour fire ra ng, FiroShield requires just
five layers of coa ng, compared to conven onal coa ngs,
which require up to 15 layers or more. It is thus faster to
apply and it is also cheaper, due to the lower material
costs and manpower requirements.
FiroShield has also been tested on other construc on
materials, such as reinforced concrete and laminated
mber, and has the same performance.
In addi on to its fire-resistant proper es and easy appli-
ca on, FiroShield can also protect the steel surface from
corrosion. FiroShield is expected to last longer when ex-
posed to weathering elements such as moisture and UV
rays. This will reduce the maintenance cost and frequen-
cy of inspec ons over the lifespan of a building.
Leading the research team is Asst Prof Aravind Dasari,
School of Materials Science and Engineering and Prof Tan
Kang Hai, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
NTU. The research team includes Dr Indraneel S Zope
and Mr Ng Yan Hao, from NTU, as well as Mr Ng Kian
Wee, Principal Engineer, Civil and Structural Department,
JTC, who contributed his experience in engineering proj-
ects. The interdisciplinary angle, linking the materials to
structures, was a vital facet of this research.
The team said the knowledge that members have ob-
tained over the years of research on different aspects
of polymers and combus on, combined with civil and
structural engineering experience, helped to streamline
their approach. The strength of their coa ng comes from
a balanced mix of addi ves which work well together to

12 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 INDUSTRY NEWS

give off simultaneous chemical reac ons

under extremely high temperatures. They
knew that they had found the right formula
when they were able to coat steel samples
evenly, with a spray gun.
“In a fire, our coa ng forms a compact
charred layer that acts as a protec ve bar-
rier against the heat”, said Asst Prof Dasari,
who is also a Principal Inves gator at the
NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innova on
Centre (I3 Centre).
“While typical fire coa ngs will also form a
charred layer, those are thick and foam-like,
which can fall off easily and leave the steel
exposed to the fire. What we aimed at was
an innova ve coat that works differently
from conven onal intumescent coa ngs
and can s ck to the steel surface for as long
as possible, under high temperatures, and
has durability and weather-resistance under
normal condi ons without a need for a top
coat of paint”, he added. Asst Prof Aravind Dasari, NTU, pu ng his finger on a piece of plas c which was placed behind
Mr Koh Chwee, Director, Technical Ser- a steel plate coated with FiroShield and exposed to a flame with a temperature of over 900° C,
proving that it is cool enough to touch. This is due to the effec veness of the FiroShield coa ng
vices Division, JTC and Co-Director, I3 Cen- in preven ng the transmission of heat to the steel and its consequent deforma on.
tre, said that through collaboration with
academic institutions like NTU, JTC aims
to develop new and innovative solutions to enhance The team went further to develop a coa ng that is able
safety and construction productivity in its industrial to have assorted colours. Pigments can be added to the
infrastructure projects. mixture, so that it achieves the aesthe c func on of
normal paint. Paint manufacturers looking to add the
“The ease of application of this new fire- and corro- benefits of FiroShield to their products should find that
sion-resistant coating on steel structures will help commercialisa on is straigh orward, as the innova on
reduce labour-intensive work, thus improving pro- relies simply on the addi on of key chemicals into their
ductivity and enabling faster coating of prefabricated paint manufacturing process.
steel components. More importantly, the new coat-
ing’s ability to maintain superior adhesion under high For the next phase of development, FiroShield will be
temperatures leads to increased building safety for oc- sent to the UK for industry cer fica on which includes
cupants. We are confident that the new coating will be subjec ng the coa ng to a load-bearing fire test.
able to reduce both paint material and labour costs, Its proprietary formula on has been filed with NTU’s
and become a new alternative to other fire protection innova on and enterprise arm, NTUi ve, and upon the
products”, said Mr Koh. comple on of the cer fica on, NTUi ve will work with
Prof Chu Jian, Interim Co-Director of the I3 Centre said JTC to explore commercialisa on op ons.
this invention is one of the successful examples of re- A er the cer fica on, which is expected to be completed
search partnerships between academia and industry, by April 2018, the joint research team will work with rele-
as NTU is able to tap on relevant industry know-how vant agencies to roll out this technology on a larger scale.
from JTC, while providing technological knowledge
and research expertise, to develop an innovative Building on this technology, Asst Prof Dasari will also
solution that will benefit the building and construction work with JTC at the I3 Centre to develop another type
sector. of innova ve coa ng for the construc on and building
industry, which addresses even more proper es beyond
Combina on of materials used for coa ng fire- and corrosion-resistance.
The base material of the new coa ng is made of syn-
the c polymer resins that are commonly used to make NTU-JTC I3 Centre
paints. To give it fire- and corrosion-resistant proper es, Established in 2011, the NTU-JTC I3 Centre aims to pio-
Asst Prof Dasari’s team added a combina on of common neer cu ng-edge industrial infrastructure solu ons to
chemicals, including one that is endothermic, that is, it address challenges faced by Singapore and its companies
can absorb heat, to start a chemical reac on that causes in areas such as safety, produc vity as well as manpower
the coa ng to adhere firmly to the steel. and resource constraints.

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 13

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

NEW INITIATIVES TO BOOST CONSTRUCTION

PRODUCTIVITY IN HDB PROJECTS

By 2019, all newly launched HDB flats will be fi ed with • Reduced need for manpower on-site and be er site safe-
bathroom units pre-assembled off-site. Complete with ty - By fabrica ng the volumetric modular units off-site
finishes such as copper piping, par al ling, window in a controlled factory environment, fewer workers are
frames, and a waterproofing system, the Prefabricated required on-site, thereby improving overall site safety.
Bathroom Units (PBUs) will be transported to the work
• Be er construc on quality - Volumetric construc on in
site, and hoisted onto the blocks for installa on.
a factory environment offers more uniform and be er
Along with the adop on of PBUs, HDB will also imple- quality workmanship. The incidence of wet construc-
ment the concrete Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric on joints is also reduced, thereby improving the
Construc on (PPVC) method in 35% of its projects, by water- ghtness of wet areas.
2019. This method involves construc ng and assembling
• Reduced impact on environment - With part of the
three-dimensional (3D) prefabricated modular units,
finishes done off-site, less noise and dust is generated
with finishes, in a controlled factory environment. At the
at the construc on sites, thereby minimising disameni-
factory, the 3D volumetric components are combined in
es to surrounding residents. It also helps to improve
different configura ons (including for bedrooms, living
housekeeping at construc on sites.
room, household shelter, and kitchen) to create different
flat layouts, and pre-fi ed with floor and wall finishes,
window frames and a preliminary coat of paint, before From pilot projects to wider implementa on
being transported to the construc on site for installa- HDB first piloted concrete PBUs in Fernvale Lea, a Build-
on. To-Order (BTO) project in Sengkang, which was complet-
The move - a departure from the conven onal approach ed in January 2016. Including this pilot project, HDB has
where workers need to work on the finishes at the installed PBUs in 15 BTO projects, involving some 14,000
construc on site - will drive HDB’s construc on pro- units. Moving ahead, HDB will install PBUs in 60% of the
duc vity on a larger scale, se ng it on track to achieve flats launched in 2017, and extend PBUs to all projects
an improvement of 25%, by 2020, compared with the launched by 2019, where feasible.
produc vity in 2010. The PPVC method of construc on was piloted in Valley
Spring @ Yishun, where construc on of 824 BTO units
Steady improvement in produc vity started in March 2017. Prior to this pilot, HDB had tested
the concrete Prefabricated Volumetric Construc on
As the public housing authority and largest housing
(PVC) approach in West Terra @ Bukit Batok.
developer in Singapore, HDB constantly seeks to improve
its design and construc on processes, to raise construc- Similar to PPVC, the PVC method involves the use of 3D
on produc vity even as it delivers quality homes for volumetric units, but without pre-finishes such as floor
Singaporeans. Over the years, through the adop on of finishes or pain ng. Expected to be completed in the first
a range of ini a ves, the produc vity for public housing quarter 2018, all 1,793 units in West Terra @ Bukit Batok
projects, defined as the amount of floor area completed will also come with PBUs. The PVC pilot has enabled HDB
per man day, has improved steadily. to refine its PPVC approach. By 2019, the PPVC approach
will be implemented in 35% of new public housing projects.
Expanding use of prefabrica on technology
One key thrust of HDB’s produc vity drive has been the
adop on of precast technology since the 1980s. Today,
up to 70% of a typical HDB block’s concrete structure is
constructed using the prefabrica on method.
To further raise produc vity, HDB has been studying and pi-
lo ng new and more produc ve forms of precast construc-
on, including the game-changing PBU and PPVC methods.
The key benefits of using PBUs and PPVC are as follows:
• Higher efficiency - The pre-assembly of volumetric
units can be carried out off-site, in tandem with other
ac vi es on-site. The off-site works at the ground level
minimises the wastage of materials and also reduces
the need to hoist raw materials onto elevated blocks
under construc on. PBUs delivered at the construc on site, for installa on.

14 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 INDUSTRY NEWS

Valley Spring @ Yishun, launched in August 2016, is a pilot HDB project using the PPVC method.

U lising technological innova ons is pre-finished off-site

Beyond prefabrica on technology, HDB also seeks to lever- in factories and can be
age technological innova ons, such as Building Informa on installed easily on site. It
Modelling (BIM) and Virtual Design & Construc on (VDC), offers be er slip resis-
to raise construc on produc vity. tance and greater comfort
for residents.
An advanced 3D modelling technology, BIM enables profes-
sionals of various disciplines to explore the building project • Unplas cised polyvinyl
digitally, before it is built. With planners, surveyors, designers, chloride (uPVC) skir ng
and builders looking at the same 3D model, poten al design to replace mber skir ng
clashes are easily flagged out for resolu on before the actual in all projects launched,
construc on on site. This leads to more integrated collabora- since November 2015.
on of exper se, thereby op mising the cost-effec veness The uPVC skir ng is of
and quality standards across HDB’s construc on value chain. higher quality and can be
installed more speedily.
As one of the early adopters of BIM, HDB has been HDB has adopted new
applying this advanced simula on so ware in its new • Laminated uPVC doors
and architraves, intro- materials such as laminated
projects, since 2009. From 2012, all new HDB develop- uPVC doors and architraves to
ments are required to use BIM in their design. To-date, duced in 2017. They are improve productivity.
about 130 projects have been designed using BIM. easier to install and more
durable than conven onal mber doors and steel door
In VDC, designers and contractors make use of 3D visuali- frames. The uPVC doors and architraves also allow bet-
sa on of the building designs and informa on embedded ter control of workmanship and higher quality control.
in BIM models, to address design issues collabora vely and
plan the construc on ac vi es holis cally. The use of VDC Mee ng produc vity goals
enhances produc vity, as designers and contractors spend
less me to interpret the 2D technical drawings, thus reduc- With the implementa on of game-changing construc on
ing misinterpreta on. technologies and innova ons, HDB is well on track to
achieving a total construc on produc vity improvement
of 25%, by 2020 - in line with the target set for the industry
New materials by the Government. In Financial Year 2016/ 2017, HDB
In the design of its flats, HDB is also constantly searching for achieved a cumula ve 12.3% improvement in overall pro-
materials that will improve produc vity and offer residents duc vity levels at its construc on sites.
a be er home. Some new materials that have been intro-
duced in new HDB flats include: Going forward, HDB will con nue to pursue advances in
technology and the adop on of innova ons to boost
• Vinyl strip flooring to replace floor les in the bed- produc vity, and create well-designed and quality homes
rooms, since 2016. Resembling mber, the flooring for Singaporeans.

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 15

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS
TRIMBLE LAUNCHES CLOUD BASED
CONSTRUCTION COLLABORATION TOOL IN ASIA
Trimble recently introduced its powerful cloud-based collab-
ora on pla orm, Trimble Connect, to the Asian construc-
on sector. Trimble Connect allows construc on profes-
sionals to collaborate across different technology pla orms
– Android, iOS, Desktop, Web and Mixed Reality.
The solu on was introduced at BuildTech Asia 2017, held
in Singapore.
Using Trimble Connect can reduce costs and improve effi-
ciency for buildings and infrastructure projects by consoli-
da ng and seamlessly exchanging informa on throughout
the design, build, and operate lifecycle of the project.
Trimble Connect helps construc on companies build be er,
by making informa on transparent, traceable and accessi-
ble to everyone involved in a project.
How Trimble Connect works
Owners, architects, contractors and engineers all use differ-
ent so ware and hardware tools to contribute their deliv-
erables to a structural project. These deliverables can be 2D
drawings, specifica ons, documents, or 3D models created
through Building Informa on Modelling (BIM). However, the
process of sharing informa on across the tools and technolo-
gy pla orms can be disjointed, tedious and complex.
Trimble Connect creates a robust and open cloud-based
project collabora on pla orm that so ware and hardware
users can easily u lise.
With Trimble Connect, everyone involved in a construc on
project can see the big picture as well as right down to the
niest detail. It allows teams to access, analyse, manage
and share project data from anywhere, at any me.
“Trimble Connect will allow Asian construc on profes-
sionals to collaborate seamlessly, removing the barriers
between teams and tasks”, said Mr Thomas Phang, Area
Director of Trimble Solu ons (SEA) Pte Ltd.
“With Trimble Connect, Asian construc on companies
working on structural projects will save costs and achieve
greater efficiencies in the way they create buildings. Trimble
Connect can unlock significant produc vity improvements
for construc on firms by ge ng their teams working be er
together. Trimble Connect confirms Trimble’s leadership as
a provider of advanced so ware and hardware solu ons for
the construc on industry in Asia and the world”, he added.
Reflec ng Trimble’s commitment to open standards and
workflows, Trimble Connect supports the pla orm-neutral
IFC file format for Open BIM, a broad-based approach to
the collabora ve design, construc on and opera on of
buildings, based on open standards and workflows.
One prac cal example of using Trimble Connect in structur-
al workflows is for publishing steel and concrete models to
the cloud, so that Tekla Structures users can reference each
16 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
other’s work in a protected workflow or reference the archi-
tect’s, MEP designer’s, or civil engineer’s models for clash
checking, scheduling, and design coordina on.
Trimble Connect for Structures includes basic features as
well as addi onal structural applica on workflow tools,
such as the ability to track and share status events.
Arup appoints new Global Rail Leader
Arup has appointed Mr T C Chew
as Global Rail Leader to direct
the firm’s global rail business.
Mr Chew will work closely with
interim leader Anna Squire to
establish Arup’s rail business as
the world leader in the sector.
He joins Arup from Samsung
Construc on & Trading Corpo-
ra on where he was President Mr TC Chew, Global Rail
of Global Business Opera ons, Leader, Arup.
leading the firm’s transforma on
to an integrated, trusted Engineering, Procurement, and
Construc on (EPC) company.
Mr Chew has more than 40 years’ experience in deliv-
ering major railway infrastructure programmes around
the world. While at the Land Transport Authority (LTA)
in Singapore, he delivered Asia’s first fully automated
underground heavy metro system - the North East Line of
the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. He was responsible
for all new railway projects in Hong Kong during his me
at MTR Corpora on, including the West Island Line and
the fully automated South Island Line. During his me
at Bombardier Transporta on as Head of Mass Transit
in the UK, Mr Chew was responsible for major projects
including the London Underground Victoria Line upgrade.
He is a Fellow of a number of key ins tu ons including
the Royal Academy of Engineering; the Ins tu on of
Civil Engineers; the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering
Sciences and the Hong Kong Ins tute of Directors.
“My focus will be helping our clients move beyond imme-
diate project delivery, to considering the whole life-cycle
of their rail infrastructure projects. Significant gains can
be made by thinking about long-term asset maintenance
and replacement from the outset. With the breadth of
exper se available at Arup, we are well placed to deliver
smart solu ons that consider the whole-life perspec ve”,
said Mr Chew.
“With TC’s client and contrac ng experience, we are able
to further strengthen our global reach. Throughout his
career, TC has helped clients deploy advanced technolo-
gy to improve efficiencies across the whole life-cycle of
a project. Under his leadership, we will be even be er
placed to help our clients’ future proof and improve the
long-term value of their rail assets”, said Dr Alan Belfield,
Chief Opera ng Officer, Arup.

HILL INTERNATIONAL’S CONSTRUCTION
CLAIMS GROUP BECOMES HKA
The management buyout of Hill Interna onal’s Construc on
Claims & Consul ng Group (CCG), backed by Bridgepoint Devel-
opment Capital, has been completed.
The newly independent firm has been restructured to bring
all its firms under one global business and brand, named HKA.
This new interna onal consultancy will be headquartered in
Warrington and London, in England, UK.
HKA is amalgama ng six brands, represen ng specialist advi-
sory, consul ng and expert engineering services, to create a
single, globally connected, integrated offering.
The six brands incorporated into HKA are:
• Hill Interna onal (CCG) plus subsidiaries
• Knowles, headquartered in Warrington, England, UK
• Hill-PCI Group, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• McLachlan Lister, headquartered in Sydney, Australia
INDUSTRY NEWS
• Binnington Copeland & Associates, headquartered in Johan-
nesburg, South Africa
• Cadogans, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, UK
HKA has approximately 960 professionals in 45 offices world-
wide, providing clients with advisory, consul ng and expert
services. In Asia, HKA has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur and Singapore.
The new firm is led by Renny Borhan who becomes Chief Exec-
u ve of the interna onal firm. Commen ng on the comple on
of the deal, Mr Borhan stated, “In every market sector, projects
are becoming ever more complex and interna onal. HKA is
a firm uniquely posi oned to address this, combining our
businesses and brands to provide seamless access to integrated
advisory, consul ng and expert services anywhere in the world
throughout the life cycle of a project”.
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 17
January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

AUTODESK PREVIEWS NEXT GENERATION

BIM 360 PLATFORM

At its 25th annual flagship user conference, Autodesk on, with an inaugural group of more than 50 BIM 360 in-
University, held in November 2017, in Las Vegas, USA, tegra on partners. The exchange’s goals are to showcase,
Autodesk Inc previewed its next genera on BIM 360 catalogue and generate awareness for all applica ons and
pla orm, a seamless cloud service connec ng the en re integra ons to the next-genera on BIM 360 pla orm,
construc on project lifecycle. Autodesk also launched so that customers and partners have a broad choice of
the ‘Connect and Construct Exchange’, a new BIM solu ons to enhance and extend their workflow to be er
360 integra on partner programme designed to bring meet their unique construc on needs.
third-party so ware applica ons and data into the BIM
360 construc on workflow. The Connect and Construct
Exchange was launched with more than 50 inaugural BIM
360 integrators.
The next genera on of BIM 360, built on the Autodesk
Forge pla orm, supports informed decision-making
throughout the construc on project lifecycle, by central-
ising all project data in a single place. Autodesk Forge
is a connected developer cloud pla orm which enables
customers and partners to create customised, scalable
solu ons for engineering, construc on and manufactur-
ing challenges. BIM 360 connects project stakeholders
and workflows at all stages of the building lifecycle - from
design to construc on to opera ons, from the field to Contractors and trades can view a list of project issues on Apple or Android
the office and back. BIM 360 removes the uncertainty tablets and phones, add details, and move through approval steps.
that plagues construc on projects of all sizes, by pairing
its project management tools and database with ma-
chine learning analy cs and insights. The result is closer
collabora on among project teams, greater transparency
about changes, and improved data con nuity that trans-
lates into increased profitability.
“Construc on projects are growing more complex, but
Autodesk meets that challenge head-on with BIM 360,
making construc on work safer, simpler, and connected”,
said Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO, Autodesk.
“With the confusion of an ever-increasing number of
construc on apps across the industry, the op on to man-
age all project data in a single cloud pla orm results in
more predictable building project outcomes”, he added. In BIM 360, clash detec on is performed automa cally as mul -
discipline models are published. In the Model Coordina on module,
users can drill down into individual clashing objects to resolve issues in
Developed with Autodesk construc on industry the pre-construc on stage.
customers
The new BIM 360 pla orm is a result of collabora on
between Autodesk and 500 construc on professionals
from 100 organisa ons, who informed the company’s
so ware development process.
Autodesk BIM 360 solu ons presently house almost
4,000,000 models, and BIM 360 customers have logged
approximately 200 million field observa ons.

Connect and Construct Exchange

BIM 360 connects fragmented workflows across precon-
struc on, execu on, fabrica on, installa on, and facility
management. The new Autodesk Connect and Construct
The BIM 360 mobile app supports both quality and safety checklist
Exchange adds value for each of these phases of construc-
workflows, as well as access to all the project plans, models and documents.

18 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
INDUSTRY NEWS

LEADING ARCHITECTS VOTE AURECON

AMONG TOP FIVE BEST PARTNERS GLOBALLY
As the boundaries of design are con nually changed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; MahaNakhon Tower in
and extended, the role of the engineer has expanded to Bangkok, Thailand; and VivoCity in Shanghai, China.
include that of design thinker and skilled collaborator
on projects.
Aurecon, a company that has an cipated and adapted to
this trend, was highly ranked for the third year running,
in the 2017 Annual World Architecture 100 (WA100)
survey of the world’s leading architectural prac ces, and
again voted one of the global top five ‘Best Partners’ in
both the ‘Service Engineers’ and ‘Structural Engineers’
categories.
The comprehensive WA100 survey conducted by World
Architecture magazine asks architects to name their ‘fa-
vourite professional associates’, based on a diverse range
of key performance indicators, including an outstanding
Flood Resilient Ferry Terminals, Brisbane, Australia.
commitment to clients, contribu on to crea vity and
project outcomes, collabora on and chemistry. Ingenuity
and technical exper se, which enhance a concept from a
design perspec ve, ranks par cularly highly.
“Design encompasses a meaning beyond the making of a
physical thing. It is a way of doing and a way of thinking.
Aurecon’s dis nc veness has come from weaving all
aspects of design into our organisa onal DNA as a means
of cra ing new value. We have made Design-Led Engi-
neering our signature discipline and imbued its princi-
ples across our global footprint”, says Mr John McGuire,
Aurecon’s Chief Innova on Officer.
“It is hugely rewarding that our commitment to clev-
er, inspirational design is truly valued by the global The Jumeirah Al Naseem hotel, Dubai.
architecture community”, added Mr James Bennett,
Managing Director-Built
Environment, Aurecon.
A recent example of
design achievement was
the collabora on between
Aurecon and Cox Rayner
Architects, which resulted
in the award-winning de-
sign concept for the Flood
Resilient Ferry Terminals
for Brisbane, Australia.
The ambi ous design
tested the boundaries of
conven on, in introducing
technical innova on to
mari me engineering.
Other examples of cre-
a ve Aurecon projects
are 567 Collins Street in
Melbourne, Australia;
Jumeirah Al Naseem hotel
Mapletree’s VivoCity Shanghai, China.

20 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018

BENTLEY SYSTEMS HONOURS ACHIEVEMENTS
AT EVENT IN SINGAPORE
Bentley Systems Incorporated, a leading global provid-
er of comprehensive so ware solu ons for advancing
infrastructure, announced the winners of the 2017 Be
Inspired Awards at a ceremony and gala on 12 October
2017, held as part of the Year in Infrastructure 2017
Conference, from 9 to 12 October 2017, at Marina Bay
Sands, Singapore.
The annual awards programme honours the work by
users of Bentley so ware in advancing the world’s infra-
structure. At the Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference,
Bentley acknowledged six Special Recogni on Awards
winners and 17 Be Inspired Awards winners.
The Year in Infrastructure Conference is Bentley’s annual
global gathering of leading professionals in the world
of infrastructure design, construc on, and opera ons.
In addi on to thought-provoking keynotes, technology
demonstra ons, industry forums, and panel discussions,
the agenda included presenta ons by finalists in the Be
Inspired Awards programme, culmina ng in the selec on
of the winning projects.
For the 2017 Be Inspired Awards, 10 independent
panels of jurors, comprising distinguished industry
experts, selected the Be Inspired Awards winners from
51 project finalists. These finalists were chosen from
more than 400 submissions by organisations in over
50 countries.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS WINNERS
Asset Informa on Management Advancement
Oregon Department of Transporta on - TransInfo - A
Connected Data Environment for Transporta on - Salem,
Oregon, United States
Winner of the 2017 Be Inspired Awards, in the ‘BIM Advancements in Bridges’ category - Long Jian Road & Bridge Co Ltd - Heihe-Blagoveshchensk
Heilongjiang River (Amur River) Road Bridge Project - Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province, China.
EVENTS
Comprehensive BIM Advancement
Guangdong Hydropower Planning & Design Ins tute -
Guangdong Pearl River Delta Water Resources Alloca on
Project - Guangdong Province, China
Concep oneering Advancement
HNTB Corpora on - I-94 Moderniza on Project - Detroit,
Michigan, United States
Construc oneering Advancement
China Construc on Sixth Engineering Division, Tianjin
University of Technology, and Tianjin Tianhe-Cloud Build-
ing Engineering Technology Co Ltd - Sanya New Airport
Reclama on Project - Sanya, Hainan, China
Inspec oneering Advancement
SEIKEY Enterprise Drone Solu ons - Cell Tower Inspec-
ons 4G and 5G - Caronno Pertusella, Varese, Italy
Opera oneering Advancement
Outotec - Design for Reliability Project in Counter Current
Decanta on (CCD) - Helsinki, Finland
BE INSPIRED AWARDS WINNERS
BIM Advancements in Bridges
Long Jian Road & Bridge Co Ltd - Heihe-Blagoveshchensk
Heilongjiang River (Amur River) Road Bridge Project -
Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province, China
BIM Advancements in Buildings and Campuses
Morphosis - Bloomberg Center Project - New York,
New York, USA
BIM Advancements in Construc on
Leighton Asia - Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facili es,
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge - Hong Kong
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 21
January 2018
EVENTS

BIM Advancements in Environmental Engineering System (NOMS) - Strategic Road Network, England, Unit-
NJS Engineers India Pvt Ltd - JICA Assisted Ganga Ac on ed Kingdom
Plan II - Varanasi, U ar Pradesh, India
BIM Advancements in U li es and Industrial Asset
BIM Advancements in Manufacturing Performance
Satria Technologies Sdn Bhd - Sustainable Solu ons for BP - Khazzan Central Informa on Store - Khazzan Field,
Control & Protec on Systems - Klang, Selangor, Malaysia Block 61, Ad Dhahirah Governorate, Oman
BIM Advancements in Mining and Offshore Engineering BIM Advancements in U li es Transmission and Distribu on
Offshore Oil Engineering Company Limited - Field Jacket Pestech Interna onal Berhad - Automa on and Integra-
Design and Development of ‘Fixed Offshore Structure on of Substa on Design Project - Kra e and Kampong
Design Tool’ - Tianjin, China Cham, Cambodia
BIM Advancements in Municipal Opera ons BIM Advancements in Water and Wastewater Plants
Huadong Engineering Corpora on Limited, PowerChi- Beijing Ins tute of Water - Tongzhou Water Works of Beijing
na - Applica on of BIM Strategy for Shenzhen Qianhai South-to-North Water Diversion Project - Beijing, China
Municipal Infrastructure - Shenzhen City, Guangdong
BIM Advancements in Water Networks
Province, China
AEGEA - AEGEA Prolagos Sewerage Master Plan 2041 -
BIM Advancements in Power Genera on Região dos Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
China Water Resource Pearl River Planning Surveying &
The Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference included the
Designing Co Ltd - Wugachong Reservoir Project in Pu’an
Buildings and Campuses Forum, Digital Ci es Forum,
County of Guizhou Province - Pu’an County, Qianxinan
Industrial Forum, Rail and Transit Forum, Roads and Bridges
Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Prov-
Forum, U li es and Water Forum, as well as the Alliance
ince, China
Partner Pavilion and Sessions, Pre-conference Learning
BIM Advancements in Project Delivery Academies and several ‘by invita on only’ summits.
Mo MacDonald and the Costain, VINCI Construc on
Grands Projets, Bachy Soletanche Joint Venture - East
Sec on of the Thames Tideway Tunnel - London, En-
gland, United Kingdom
BIM Advancements in Rail and Transit
Mass Rapid Transit Corpora on Sdn Bhd - Klang Valley
Mass Rapid Transit Project - Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putra-
jaya Line - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
BIM Advancements in Reality Modeling
CEDD-AECOM- The Earth Solu ons - Development of
Anderson Road Quarry Site - Hong Kong
BIM Advancements in Roads
CCCC First Highway Consultants Co Ltd - Applica on of
BIM Strategy on the Transforma on of Meiguan Ex-
pressway to Urban Road Design Project - Shenzhen City,
Guangdong Province, China Winner of the 2017 Be Inspired Awards, in the ‘BIM Advancements
in Rail and Transit’ category - Mass Rapid Transit Corpora on Sdn
BIM Advancements in Road and Rail Asset Performance Bhd - Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project - Sungai Buloh-Serdang-
Highways England - Network Occupancy Management Putrajaya Line - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Winner of the 2017 Be Inspired Awards, in the ‘BIM Advancements in Construc on’ category - Leighton Asia - Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facili es, Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge - Hong Kong.

22 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 EVENTS

BENTLEY ANNOUNCES IMODEL 2.0 CLOUD PLATFORM

AND ITS IMODELHUB CLOUD SERVICE
At the Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference, Bentley
Systems’ Founder, Keith Bentley introduced the com-
pany’s ‘iModel 2.0’ cloud platform and its first new
service, iModelHub, to accelerate ‘going digital’ for
users of its ProjectWise Design Integration services.
Without requiring changes to existing BIM applications
or processes, the iModelHub cloud service, invoking
application-specific ‘iModel bridges’ triggered auto-
matically by ProjectWise synchronises and distributes
changes made through discipline-specific BIM applica-
tions; aligns semantically and physically their constit-
uent digital components; and maintains immersive Keith Bentley speaks at the Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference.
visibility for comprehensive and continuous design
reviews across all project disciplines and participants.

Change synchronisa on
The ProjectWise Design Integration service is relied
upon as the ‘workhorse for work sharing’ by 43 of the
ENR Top 50 Design Firms. It manages the file-based
workflows for project delivery, which correspond to
contractual roles and which acknowledge the asyn-
chronous and often disconnected nature of infra-
structure project work packaging and collaboration.
Adding iModelHub takes advantage of Microsoft Azure
cloud services to fully enable a connected project
- synchronising all checked-in project changes, and
automatically updating a composite project iModel for
comprehensive and continuous design reviews, high-
The ProjectWise Design Integra on service is considered the ‘workhorse
lighting progress and risks in digital workflows across
for work sharing’. Adding iModelHub takes advantage of Microso
disciplines. Azure cloud services to fully enable a connected project.
iModelHub journals all project changes on a timeline,
and notifies project participants, based on their Pro- across disciplines. iModel (2.0) advancement relies
jectWise workflow configuration, about the availabil- upon the iModelHub cloud service and iModel Bridges
ity of relevant changes. Participants can choose to to achieve maximum possible digital alignment across
synchronise (or not) to and from particular timeline iModels.
milestones, and can visualise, summarise, analyse, and An iModel Bridge aligns information from an applica-
interpret the impact of ongoing changes. tion’s native format into the iModelHub‘s registry of
To fully enable analytics across multiple projects, and semantics, structure, units, and coordinates. Bentley
for connected assets, ‘iModel agents’ can be pro- Systems is providing iModel Bridge programs for its
grammed for each analytics subject, to be notified applications and for other common BIM applications,
of project-level changes by iModelHub, and to filter such as Autodesk REVIT, and will provide an API for
appropriately for efficient incremental updates to the creation of bridges from other applications.
enterprise ‘data lakes’, assuring secure accessibility
of current infrastructure engineering model data for Immersive visibility
compliance and safety. By adding change synchronisation and digital align-
ment to the connected data environment shared
Digital alignment across ProjectWise and Bentley’s AssetWise oper-
Bentley’s widely-utilised i-model (1.0) containers for ations services, iModelHub increases the value of
BIM deliverables make their native structures usefully digital workflows within and between connected
self-describing in their own right, but that approach projects, connected assets, and enterprise data lakes.
was not intended for aggregation and understanding By distributing and synchronising copies of iModels

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 23

January 2018
EVENTS
anywhere, the iModel 2.0 cloud platform is able to
support massive scale-out for reliable, ubiquitous, and
asynchronous project visibility. For example, Bentley’s
new Navigator Web enables any authorised user on
any modern browser to access project and asset digi-
tal component information securely through intuitive
3D immersion. Immersive visibility includes alignment
of BIM models and digital components within their
digital context of engineering-ready reality meshes,
created by Bentley’s ContextCapture reality modelling
software, for instance from continuous UAV surveying.
For the first time, project delivery and work packag-
ing can reliably and accountably ‘industrialise’ BIM,
supported by the necessary tracking and management
of constant change through design and construction
workflows, and immersive design review visibility into
ongoing project and site status. And for the first time,
this fully connected data environment can enable dig-
ital engineering models to serve as the digital DNA for
infrastructure asset performance modelling, connect-
ed to operational technology inputs and enterprise
data lakes through Bentley’s AssetWise reliability
services and operational analytics.
Bentley completes rollout of its CONNECT Edi on
applica on por olio
Bentley Systems has announced the comple on of its
CONNECT Edi on applica on por olio for design, analyt-
ical, construc on, and asset performance modelling of
infrastructure.
The CONNECT Edi on’s comprehensive modelling envi-
ronment supports aligned digital workflows across appli-
ca ons for all project delivery disciplines, directly mee ng
the challenges presented from infrastructure projects.
At the Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference, held in
Singapore, the Bentley product keynote presenta on
showcased digital workflows for digital ci es newly
enabled by the full CONNECT Edi on applica on port-
folio. Featured were four interdisciplinary vigne es
on the design, construc on, and opera on of road,
rail, water and wastewater, and airport infrastructure.
These project vigne es illustrated the intersec on and
interdependence of civil, u lity, building, and plant
applica ons, and the digital workflow collabora on
between interdisciplinary teams made possible by the
CONNECT Edi on por olio, to deliver complex and
mul -faceted projects.
Roads
Dus n Parkman, Vice President, Civil and Reality Mod-
eling, presented CONNECT Edi on digital workflows for
a road project, from its concep on through construc-
24 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
“With our ‘iModel 2.0’ cloud platform, I foresee an
accelerating ecosystem of innovation for true digital
workflows around infrastructure assets. To get there,
our first priority has been to make possible substan-
tial improvements in infrastructure project delivery
and asset performance outcomes, without needing to
change current BIM workflows. iModelHub cloud ser-
vices provide the solution for many infrastructure en-
gineering challenges where BIM modelling has created
the potential for advancement, but where information
misalignment has limited its value”, said Mr Bentley.
“Indeed, we have engineered the iModel 2.0 cloud
platform to instill digital alignment, change-based
accountability and synchronisation, and immersive
visibility as its core tenants. The best news is that
ProjectWise Design Integration users can set up their
iModel Bridges to connect to iModelHub without
retraining users or changing their existing applications
or work processes - and without introducing any risk
to their projects. If nothing else, the value of change-
based visualisation through Navigator Web will prove
so indispensable, I predict most organisations will nev-
er want to do another project without it”, he added.
on. He began by bringing engineering-ready digital
context into OpenRoads ConceptSta on, star ng with
highly precise reality meshes of the underlying terrain
prepared using ContextCapture and streamed into the
applica on through ContextShare. He then brought
in orthophotos, digital surface models, and point
clouds to use in combina on with detailed surveying
data. With this digital context, he rapidly created an
interac vely costed conceptual design. Then, mov-
ing to OpenRoads Designer for detailed design, he
incorporated the digital context and geometry from
the conceptual design, along with the bridge designed
in OpenBridge Modeler CONNECT Edi on and the geo-
technical data for the substrata along the bridge foot-
ings and piles. He was then able to analyse the actual
segmental bridge elements, ensuring form, func on
and structural integrity as he designed the roadways
and other structures. Mr Parkman then demonstrated
a digital workflow for construc on, through federa on
of ProjectWise CONNECT Edi on and Topcon’s Magnet
Enterprise cloud services, showing the OpenRoads de-
sign driving an autonomous paving machine. He con-
cluded by showing Topcon drones capturing imagery of
the completed highway, bringing that data via Topcon’s
MAGNET Enterprise through ContextCapture Cloud
Processing Service to create an as-constructed reality
mesh for use in the new AssetWise road network man-
agement, maintenance, and inspec on workflows.

Rail
Jeremy Shaffer, Vice President Rail Solu ons, an-
nounced Bentley’s new OpenRail solu on, taking a
rail project from planning through performance. He
emphasised the importance of progressive assurance
of opera onal requirements at the project outset, and
of Systems Engineering as the framework for digital
workflows for project delivery of complex rail systems.
Mr Shaffer began with concep onal design, bringing
ContextCapture created digital context into OpenRail
ConceptSta on and leveraging digital components
from Components Center to interac vely design a
sec on of track. Then he used AECOsim Sta on De-
signer to design a complex, mul -faceted rail sta on.
The sta on was seamlessly coordinated with the
detailed civil design, created with OpenRail Designer,
to provide a view of the overall scheme and an op mal
blend of form and func on. Pla orm, facili es and
road and parking changes were performed in parallel
with bridge, tunnel, track, electrifica on, and sig-
nalling design, all taking advantage of the CONNECT
Edi on’s comprehensive modelling environment,
to ensure delivery of a fully func onal sta on. Mr
Shaffer then introduced Navigator Web, first exploring
in a zero-footprint browser a large 3D model of the
designed sta on and track for design and construc on
review, and then later interac vely examining the 3D
model for an opera onal inspec on. He concluded by
reviewing the new ConstructSim Comple ons cloud
service for commissioning and mechanical handover,
underscoring the importance of delivering the digital
engineering models and digital context of the railroad
for opera onal use in AssetWise.
Water and Wastewater
Robert Mankowski, Vice President, Asset Performance,
began his session using the CONNECT Edi ons of Wa-
terGEMS and SewerGEMS to simulate the behaviour
of a water distribu on network and a wastewater
collec on system to show how engineers can rapidly
evaluate thousands of planning scenarios to iden fy
op mal improvements to meet the future needs of the
city. Focusing next on treatment plants, Mr Mankow-
ski introduced OpenPlant Modeler CONNECT Edi on,
which leverages digital components from Components
Center for mul -discipline digital workflows, and
used Navigator Web to interac vely query a large and
complex 3D OpenPlant model with just a web browser.
He then demonstrated new AssetWise capabili es
purpose-built for water and wastewater operators
to capture asset ac vi es or interven ons, including
CCTV condi on surveys, sanitary sewer overflows,
pipe cleaning, and more. Owners can use this data
combined with spa al and network analy cs to make
analy cally and data-driven decisions for more target-
ed and op mised OPEX and CAPEX spending. He also
announced that AssetWise now leverages machine
EVENTS
learning services from Microso Azure to help owners
find structure in their data, iden fy anomalous be-
haviour, and predict future outcomes based on past
performance. Finally, he showed how real- me sensor
data combined with simula on models that will help
operators forecast future system behaviour to improve
decision-making and reduce costs.
Airports
The vigne e on airports was presented by Andy Smith,
Director Product Management, Design Modeling. Mr
Smith explained how the CONNECT Edi on’s mul -dis-
cipline digital workflows are ideally suited to resolve
land use, engineer the airfield, design the terminal,
and support facility opera ons. Mr Smith began by
bringing in engineering-ready digital context of exis ng
site and building condi ons using ContextCapture.
He created master and land use plans for the air-
port, demonstra ng Bentley Map CONNECT Edi on’s
ability to combine GIS and BIM data. He then used
OpenRoads Designer for detailed engineering of the
runways and storm water management. Turning to
the terminal itself, he used AECOsim Building Designer
CONNECT Edi on’s Genera veComponents to explore
innova ve and unique building forms, the chosen
structure then physically modelled and analysed using
STAAD CONNECT Edi on. Design review was conduct-
ed with Navigator Web, where Mr Smith interac vely
explored large complex models in a browser. The final
design was then brought to life with great realism,
using AECOsim Building Designer and its now included
LumenRT func onality.
Bhupinder Singh, Bentley Systems’ Chief Product
Officer said, “Going digital is exemplified by aligned
inter-disciplinary digital workflows. Complex projects
such as airports or railways require detailed coordi-
na on, par cularly between horizontal and ver cal
infrastructure. The alignment of track, for example,
has direct bearing on the design and structure of a
rail sta on. The CONNECT Edi on’s applica ons meet
these requirements, as we illustrated in the vigne es
presented today.”
When upgrading from V8i versions to CONNECT Edi on
applica ons, users face no change in file formats.
And therea er, as CONNECT Edi on applica ons are
auto-updated, BIM advancements are con nuous and
never disrup ve.
“We are excited to now offer the full portfolio of
CONNECT Edition applications and to provide a
connected data environment scalable to even the
most complex of projects. By adopting the CONNECT
Edition now, users can immediately take advantage
of digital context, digital components, and digital
workflows across the infrastructure lifecycle for on-
time project delivery and better performing assets”,
Mr Singh said.
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 25
January 2018
EVENTS
BUILDTECH ASIA 2017
SETS NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD
Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and
Second Minister for Na onal Development, speaking at the Official
Opening of the Singapore Construc on Produc vity Week 2017.
BuildTech Asia 2017 received a record number of visitors.
BuildTech Asia 2017, the 7th edi on of the event,
which was held from 24 to 26 October at Singapore
EXPO, saw a record number of visitors and par cularly
strong interna onal par cipa on. A key anchor event of
the Singapore Construc on Produc vity Week, BuildTech
Asia 2017 welcomed some 11,000 professionals, technol-
ogy experts and distributors from the built environment
sector.
Organised by Sphere Exhibits Pte Ltd and hosted by the
Building and Construc on Authority (BCA), BuildTech
Asia 2017 featured a variety of cu ng-edge technologies
and solu ons. Over 130 exhibitors showcased virtual
reality products, drones, smart solu ons and other
produc ve technologies, in addi on to the usual exhibits
such as construc on machinery, building materials, archi-
tectural solu ons and quality finishes.
At the Official Opening of the Singapore Construc on Pro-
duc vity Week 2017, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social
and Family Development and Second Minister for Na onal
Development, launched a Construc on Industry Trans-
forma on Map (ITM) for Singapore’s built environment
sector. Recognising key global trends which impact the
sector, such as the digital revolu on, rapid urbanisa on
26 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
and climate change, the ITM iden fied Integrated Digital
Delivery (IDD), Design for Manufacturing and Assembly
(DfMA), as well as green building as key transforma on
areas that would have to be addressed by the sector.
Mr Hugh Lim, CEO, BCA, said that the transforma on
process will lead to greater investment in capability
building and more collabora on amongst firms to cap-
ture new business opportuni es. It will also a ract more
Singaporeans to join the sector as a more technologically
advanced workforce is needed.
Echoing the trend in industry transforma on, Mr Chua
Wee Phong, Chairman, Sphere Exhibits Pte Ltd, said,
“BuildTech Asia is proud to present a strong showcase
of cu ng-edge and advanced technologies for the built
environment sector. We are heartened to see expo-
nen al growth in interna onal a endance which is a
strong indicator of the importance of regional industry
collabora on, and co-opera on between the govern-
ment, industry and community. Such integra on across
construc on markets in the region and beyond signals a
strong interest in con nued cross-sharing of knowledge
and se ng of common ini a ves that will propel the
industry forward”.
SMART Women in Built Environment Conference
The inaugural SMART Women in Built Environment Con-
ference held alongside BuildTech Asia 2017 was a ended
by more than 100 industry professionals. Organised by
the Prestressed and Precast Concrete Society, Structural
Engineering World Congress and Sphere Exhibits Pte Ltd,
the conference provided a unique perspec ve on the
current progression and empowerment of women pro-
fessionals in the built environment sector in the region.
Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Culture,
Community and Youth, and Trade and Industry, was the
Guest-of-Honour. She said that ci es around the world
including Singapore face pressures of resource scarcity,
climate change and popula on growth. More than ever,
we need innova ve and sustainable solu ons for urban
living. As an integral part of the workforce, women have
an important role to play in this transforma on effort, as
leaders, experts and professionals.
Er. Emily Tan, the Organising Chairman of the confer-
ence, said, “Regardless of the different prac ces in
each country, both men and women have to be Skilled,
Mo vated, Ar culate, Resourceful and Transformed, for
the industry to transform and become more produc ve.
We hope that this conference has seeded mo va on for
more young women to press on, thrive and excel in an
ever-changing built environment sector that is no longer
gender-specific”.
 EVENTS

A bigger Singapore Public Sector Built Environment Lead-

More than 100 industry professionals a ended the inaugural SMART
Women in Built Environment Conference.
Leading female professionals and Government rep-
resenta ves from Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines
and Singapore shared the challenges that women face
in moving up the career ladder in the sector as well as
how they can use their skills to excel in their fields, and
ways to retain and empower women in the industry. The
conference also served as a forum for all professionals to
share their experiences.
ership Pavilion featured 10 public agencies in Singapore,
which have applied smart solu ons and produc ve
technologies in their projects. Visitors also witnessed a
live demonstra on on the installa on of building services
using prefabricated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumb-
ing (MEP) modules, at the new Produc vity Technology
(ProTech) Demonstra on.
Innova ons by 10 finalists in the second SCAL Produc v-
ity and Innova on Awards (PIA) were also showcased at
BuildTech Asia 2017. The PIA is an industry ini a ve to raise
produc vity in the construc on sector through a ground-up
approach for innova ve ideas.
The three winning innova ons announced at the SCAL
Built Environment Summit were:
• Gold: Koh Brothers Building and Civil Engineering Contrac-
tor (Pte) Ltd’s Moveable Li ing Frame Wall Formwork
• Silver: CS Construc on & Geotechnic Pte Ltd’s Rein-
forced Concrete Pile Handler Machine
• Bronze: Straits Construc on Singapore Pte Ltd’s Easy
Safe Adjustable Riser Pla orm
BuildTech Asia will return to Singapore EXPO in
October 2018.

Built Environment Summit

A new Built Environment Summit, organised by the Sin-
gapore Contractors Associa on Ltd (SCAL) was also held
in conjunc on with BuildTech Asia 2017. Interna onal
and local industry experts and leaders discussed what it
takes for the built environment sector to remain rele-
vant, seize opportuni es in a growing regional construc-
on market and maintain business compe veness.

Promo ng industry collabora ons across con nents

Singapore has established itself as Asia’s infrastructure
hub, with BuildTech Asia facilita ng knowledge-sharing
in the region. Some of the trade delegates visited The
Wave at the Nanyang Technological University, the first
large-scale building in Southeast Asia built using Mass
Engineered Timber. Delegates also visited Nanyang
Crescent Residen al Halls, one of the first few high-rise
projects in Singapore to adopt Prefabricated Prefinished
Volumetric Construc on (PPVC).
In addi on to the wide range of associated trade ac vi-
es, over 30 local and overseas trade mission groups vis-
ited BuildTech Asia 2017 and fostered business alliances
through networking events. The trade show also seeded
new partnerships involving par cipants from the region
and those from European markets who were interested
to explore more integrated business opportuni es.

Building solu ons and innova ons

BuildTech Asia 2017 also presented a range of the latest
building solu ons and innova ons from countries such
as Austria, China, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, BuildTech Asia 2017 featured a variety of cu ng-edge technologies and
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and the UK. solu ons in addi on to the usual exhibits such as construc on machinery.

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 27

January 2018
EVENTS

MODULAR HOMES PRESENTED AT

BUILDTECH ASIA 2017

Singapore firm iMax Modular Pte Ltd showcased its
patent-registered Solitaire and PopUp modular homes
at BuildTech Asia 2017. These products are expected
to help meet the rising demand for affordable and
quality housing that can be delivered quickly.
These 20 ft long modular homes, from iMax Modular,
come with an innovative connection system which
enables them to expand into bigger living spaces, and
are designed to maximise the use of its internal space.
The Solitaire home can transform from a single unit
into a double unit apartment, by revolving its inner
unit sideways while the PopUp home can be raised
upwards to form a double storey apartment.
An exterior view
High quality control is achieved as the building mod-
ules are prefabricated and fully fitted with internal
finishes and fixtures in a Singapore factory before they
are transported to site.
Mr Desmond Poh, Managing Director of iMax Modular
Pte Ltd said, “We are committed to making a differ-
ence to the future of construction, by developing new
practical solutions to achieve quality living at a low
cost and in the shortest possible time. Innovations
such as Solitaire and PopUp are highly mobile and can
be easily re-located to any part of the world. They can
also be used to create villages, townships and pre-
cincts, faster than any other construction system in
the world”.
The Solitaire technology is developed with engineer-
ing consultant Arup and designer Pod Structures Pte
Ltd. They are suitable for social housing projects, The kitchen
army camps and emergency shelters to replace homes
destroyed by disasters. The Solitaire modules can also
be used as temporary living spaces and facilities for
outdoor events such as the World Cup, the Olympic
Games and festivals.
The PopUp homes are also ready for instant occupa-
tion and fills the demand for proper and affordable
housing.
Besides the Solitaire and PopUp homes, iMax Modular
has also designed and supplied other modular systems
that can significantly improve the efficiency of logis-
tics and installation works on site. Schools, hostels,
dormitories, hotels and nursing homes can be rapidly
constructed with its modular construction technology.
Staircase leading to the upper storey
This includes a steel prefabricated prefinished vol-
umetric construction system, where the top and
bottom building modules are connected using the An innova ve connec on system enables the modules of the PopUp home
patented Candle-Loc fastening connection system, and to be installed rapidly with four men on site. It takes less than half an hour to
which has been adopted for a dormitory in Tuas. raise the modules and finish with an efficient fastening process.

28 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
COVER STORY
GREYFORM OPENS FACILITY TO PRODUCE
PREFABRICATED BUILDING ELEMENTS
The Greyform Building in Kaki Bukit Road 6 is the second Integrated Construction and
Prefabrication Hub (ICPH). It was officially opened in October 2017.
To steer the industry towards raising produc vity, the
Building and Construc on Authority (BCA) worked with
various agencies to formulate a master plan for the
development of mul -storey and higher density ICPHs on
land parcels with a 30-year lease term.
ICPH is a mul -storey advanced manufacturing facility
for producing prefabricated construc on elements such
as precast concrete components, with a high degree of
automa on.
Straits Construc on Singapore Pte Ltd was awarded the
second ICPH land tender launched by BCA in May 2014.
Construc on of the ICPH (named Greyform Building)
began in September 2014 and was completed in Decem-
ber 2016.
Greyform Pte Ltd (Greyform), a member of Straits Con-
struc on Group, was incorporated in December 2015 to
offer precast and prefabricated solu ons to the construc-
on industry. Greyform capitalises on digital technology
and automa on for long-term compe veness, and aims
to transform the tradi onal industry by injec ng youth
and new skills for the future economy.
Greyform Building comprises a four-storey precast con-
crete components produc on factory and office, three
blocks of 12-storey dormitory (housing 750 workers), a
mul -storey (seven- er) automated precast components
storage and retrieval system, and a concrete batching
plant with underground aggregate storage facility.
Digital technology
The fully integrated system allows seamless flow of data
from design to produc on, thereby enhancing produc-
vity and precision. In addi on, the use of detailed 3D
digital models allows Greyform to compute accurately
the quan ty of materials required. The 3D models are
subsequently used for the produc on of precast and
prefabricated components.
Concrete batching facility
Consis ng of an underground raw material storage
bunker, the concrete batching facility is fully automated
for producing ready mixed concrete. The fully enclosed
concrete batching facility also helps to minimise disame-
ni es generated from dust and noise.
Ready mixed concrete is automa cally transported by
the dedicated ‘flying buckets’ delivery system to the vari-
ous precast produc on lines. This system allows minimal
30 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
disrup on due to change in concrete mix and ensures
con nuous concrete supply for the automated pallet
circula on plant and for hollow core slab produc on.
Steel reinforcement fabrica on plant
The automated steel reinforcement machine allows full
flexibility in product customisa on, to produce steel
mesh, s rrup cages, cut-and-bend reinforcement bars
and reinforcing cages.
Automated pallet circula on plant
Different stages of precast produc on, such as cleaning
and oiling of pallet, and plo ng of required shapes on the
pallet for formwork placement and concre ng, can now
be automated and linked seamlessly. Common precast
components such as columns, beams, walls and slabs can
be efficiently produced using the pallet circula on system.
Greyform is the first ICPH that uses automated robo c
shu ering for placement of steel magne c formwork
onto the pallet to create the moulds for precast concrete
produc on.
A er the mould is set on the pallet and steel reinforce-
ments (produced at the 2nd storey fabrica on plant) are
placed in posi on, concrete is poured into the mould
with an automated concrete placement machine and
spread evenly by compac on.
The heated curing chamber facility within the circula on
plant also reduces the curing me required, before the
concrete products are ready for de-moulding (removal
of the precast components from their mould). A er
de-moulding, the steel formwork and the pallet are
cleaned automa cally and used again.
Automated precast storage facility
Product storage tradi onally takes up a large amount of
space for most precast produc on factories.
In order to store the precast components, an automated,
mul -level storage system has been built, on just two
hectares of land area, which, however, has the capacity
to house up to 5,800 t of products.
The automated system is capable of storing and retriev-
ing an en re rack of precast components, which is then
placed onto standard transport trailers. This helps to
shorten standby me for transport trailers and improve
overall round-trip- me.
 COVER STORY

Steel reinforcement fabrica on

Automated robo c shu ering Concrete distributor

Automated precast storage

All images by Greyform Pte Ltd

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 31

January 2018
FAÇADE ENGINEERING
USE OF TOOTHED ANCHOR CHANNELS
by Gary Connah, Managing Director, Halfen-Moment Singapore
In designing a structure to withstand seismic ac ons, the detailing process, specifica on of the
materials and selec on of the products are also important.
Complete façade support assembly, including cast-in channel and
serrated aluminium brackets
Over recent years, there have been some catastrophic
earthquakes around the world. Therefore, it is not a sur-
prise that Singaporean authori es are moving towards seis-
mic design for cri cal structures such as hospitals. However,
it is important to highlight that designing the structures
to withstand seismic ac ons is only part of the puzzle. In
addi on to the seismic ac ons, it is vital that the detailing of
the structure, specifica on of the materials and selec on of
the products are also taken into considera on.
In fact, some seismic tests for products are quasi-sta c in
nature and do not truly represent an actual earthquake.
Therefore, addi onal tests such as Charpy V-Notch im-
pact tests might also be needed to prove fitness for use
in a seismic region.
In the case of façade anchoring, where a failure can
easily see a 200+ kg panel falling from the side of a high
rise structure, this suitability is especially cri cal, as
the current method of anchoring them to the structure
usually uses cast-in channels that have high load-carrying
capacity only along two axes.
The use of serrated channels
With large lateral ground accelera ons during an earth-
quake, the applied loads in the third axis (along the
length of the channel) are much higher, when seismic
ac ons are considered. This has led to the development
of serrated or toothed channels which have a significant-
ly higher load-carrying capacity along the third axis.
Anchor channels are regulated in Europe under the
European Assessment Document (EAD) 330008-02-0601
and designed with the standard PrEN 1992-4. In the US,
they are tested to AC232 - Acceptance Criteria for Anchor
Channels in Concrete Elements, by the Evalua on Service
of the Interna onal Code Council (ICC-ES), but currently in
Singapore, we do not have a cer fica on process and tend
to follow the European Technical Assessments (ETAs).
32 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
These documents all use the same design principles for
tension and shear loads perpendicular to the longitudinal
axes of the anchor channel. Since February 2016, AC232
also covers loads in the longitudinal axis of the anchor
channel and includes the design for seismic condi ons,
allowing their use in all seismic design categories (A – F),
provided the channels are capable of providing resis-
tance in all three axes. A common approach to achieve
a load capacity in the longitudinal direc on is to use the
above-men oned serrated channels.Serrated channels
contain teeth along the inside of the channel lips and are
used with channel bolts with matching serra on. The
channel and bolt serra ons create an interlock between
the two surfaces, which provides a posi ve connec on
capable of resis ng shear loads in the longitudinal direc-
on of the channel axis. Toothed Anchor Channels have
been used in mul ple projects worldwide, including the
Tanjong Pagar Mixed Development project, in Singapore,
which required par cular a en on to seismic design.
Plain anchor channels with plain T-bolts can take over
longitudinal loads, based on the fric on between the
channel and the T-bolt, but the capacity relies on the
torque of the T-bolt. Interna onal standards and regula-
ons do not allow fric on-based connec ons and thus
plain anchor channels in combina on
with plain T-bolts cannot be used in
applica ons that require longitudinal
loading.
The design approach as described
in AC 232 allows for the design of
serrated anchor channels to provide
a safe and reliable way to con-
nect façade panels to concrete.
The use of slo ed holes will s ll
allow the adjustability required
to overcome building tolerances Serrated
and the absence of welding will channel
with T-bolt
increase safety and produc vity.
Anchor channels with plain and toothed lips and T-bolts
 STANDARDISATION

APPLICATION OF RAILWAY STANDARDS

BY THE LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY
by Ng Hon Wai, Vengadasalam Ramasamy and Samuel Chan, Land Transport
Authority, Singapore
Over the years, Singapore has adopted best interna onal prac ces from the railway industry and is
now in a posi on to contribute towards future developments of interna onal railway standards.

Introduc on Expansion of Singapore’s Rapid Transit System

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), a statutory board
under the Ministry of Transport, Singapore, is the na on-
al agency responsible for all modes of land transport in
Singapore. These cover all aspects of personal mobility,
public and private transport, infrastructure for transpor-
ta on, as well as road and rail systems. The range of LTA’s
responsibili es extend from policy formula on, planning,
financing, design development, engineering and project
management, to establishment of regula ons and asset
management. The agency was formed on 1 September
1995, with the merger of the Registry of Vehicles, the
Mass Rapid Transit Corpora on, the Roads and Transpor-
ta on Division of the Public Works Department, and the
Land Transport Division of the Ministry of Communica-
ons, into a single agency to coordinate measures and
solu ons for mee ng Singapore’s growing demands for
urban transporta on.
(RTS) network
In 1996, not long a er its forma on, LTA published a
landmark White Paper that set out how its vision of cre-
a ng a world class land transport system for Singapore
would be realised. The Rapid Transit System (RTS) was
envisioned to be the backbone of the public transport
network in Singapore, with Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
serving the heavy transit corridors and Light Rail Transit
(LRT) providing feeder services. At that point in me,
the MRT network, which had been in opera on for nine
years (since 7 November 1987), consisted of the North-
South Line, East-West Line and Western Line, with a total
of 42 sta ons, and which covered a total distance of 67 km.
In addi on to being the year that the White Paper was
published, 1996 was a significant period in the history of
Singapore RTS, for two other reasons. A six-sta on, 16
km long extension of the MRT network to Woodlands

Source: MRT Brochure

MRT route map (1987 to 1995)

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 33

January 2018
STANDARDISATION
was completed that year, and the Government had also
announced that work on the North East Line (NEL) was to
start that same year. Seven years later, on 20 June 2003,
the NEL, 20 km long and with 16 sta ons, was opened to
the public, thereby becoming the world’s first fully-auto-
mated, driverless, underground heavy rail system.
In 2008, LTA published the Land Transport Master Plan
(LTMP) for a people-centred land transport system.
This followed a thorough review of the land transport
strategies, to address the significant popula on increase
over the intervening years since the launch of the White
Paper, and re-examina on of transport policies in order
to be er provide for an ageing popula on as well as to
meet the diverse needs and aspira ons of Singaporeans.
Greater emphasis was placed on the need to expand
the RTS network and capacity, and a target was set - to
double the RTS network from 138 km in 2008 to 278 km
by 2020. Plans for major investments in new RTS lines
and extensions were announced, to expand and develop
a much denser RTS network, so as to provide for be er
connec vity. The capacity of exis ng lines was also to be
enhanced by increasing the frequency of trains.
The LTMP was refreshed in 2013, when LTA conducted
another review, to take into account con nuous growth
of the popula on and the economy, as well as changes
in expecta ons and norms, arising from the aspira ons
of Singaporeans for a higher quality of life. Plans for
further expansion of the RTS network were revealed.
They include the building of two new lines and extension
of three exis ng lines in the period between 2020 and
2030, to increase the length of the rail network to 360
km, by 2030. Increase in capacity and improvements
Singapore RTS Map in 2030
34 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
to rail services will also be achieved by upgrading the
signalling system for the North-South Line and East-West
Line, and by adding trains to increase the fleet size for all
exis ng MRT and LRT lines.
The need for railway standards
Throughout the history and development of the RTS in
Singapore, LTA has recognised the importance of using
railway standards for three basic purposes:
• To establish the minimum standards, rules and criteria,
that must be complied with, in order to ensure an accept-
able level of safety, quality and system performance.
• To determine methods and techniques that can be con-
sistently applied for mee ng specified requirements.
• To gain access to useful informa on and knowledge, on
best prac ces in the railway industry.
In the 1980s, the Bri sh and Japanese railway industries
had a major influence on the standards for design, de-
velopment, construc on, tes ng, opera on and main-
tenance of the North-South Line and East-West Line.
Bri sh railway standards for signalling and train control,
with their long proven history, were well-established and
widely accepted in the railway industry. These standards
were adapted for use in our local MRT system. Japanese
standards and technologies were also incorporated in
the trains that were manufactured in batches, from 1986
to 1989, by a Japanese consor um.
Over the years, Singapore’s na onal standards evolved to
address specific requirements in the context of the local
environment and opera ng condi ons of the RTS. One
Source: MOT / LTA

example is the standard on fire safety, which is a major
considera on for railways and especially for under-
ground RTS. Back in the 1980s, there were no local codes
or standards for the RTS, and fire safety provisions for
the North-South Line and East-West Line were based on
the US Na onal Fire Protec on Associa on’s NFPA 130
Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail
System. During the early stages of the North East Line
and Changi Airport Line, in the 1990s, fire safety provi-
sions were adapted from NFPA 130 and the Singapore
Fire Code, along with other relevant codes of prac ce.
Subsequently, in 2000, the Standard for Fire Safety in
Rapid Transit Systems (SFSRTS) was jointly formulated
by the LTA and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
Since then, SFSRTS has become the mandatory standard
for all RTS in Singapore, and the standard has been joint-
ly reviewed and updated by SCDF and LTA on a regular
basis. The new Code of Prac ce for Fire Precau ons in
Rapid Transit Systems 2017 was launched in July 2017
and will come into effect in February 2018.
From European to Interna onal Railway Standards
System complexi es increased significantly in NEL and
subsequent RTS lines, due to various system func ons
and interfaces that needed to be integrated and coordi-
nated across different sub-systems, hardware, so ware,
firmware and programmable electronics, for implemen-
ta on of fully automated driverless opera ons. Railway
Systems Engineering processes, procedures and best
prac ces from the European railway industry were
adapted and applied in the respec ve RTS. The design
and development phase of the Circle Line (CCL) was im-
plemented in the early 2000s, a period when European
Railway Standards were gaining acceptance in the railway
industry, par cularly through the standards developed
by CENELEC Technical Commi ee 9X on Electrical and
Electronic Applica on for Railways, and CEN Technical
Commi ee 256 on Railway Applica ons. CENELEC is the
European Commi ee for Electrotechnical Standardiza-
on. CEN is the European Commi ee for Standardiza on.
Relevant CENELEC/CEN standards and guidelines were
incorporated into technical specifica ons and requirements
of the respec ve RTS sub-system contracts. CENELEC stan-
dards also provided the basis for se ng up LTA’s internal
processes and governance frameworks. For example, LTA’s
safety cer fica on process for RTS safety acceptance and
approval is based on safety-related standards, requirements
and processes defined in CENELEC Standard EN50126: Rail-
way applica ons - The specifica on and demonstra on of
Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS).
As a member of the World Trade Organiza on (WTO), since
1 January 1995, Singapore is bound by the Agreement on
Government Procurement, which requires that open, fair
and transparent condi ons of compe on be ensured in
government procurement. In par cular, Ar cle X on Techni-
cal Specifica ons and Tender Documenta on specifies the
need to ‘base the technical specifica on on interna onal
standards, where such exist; otherwise, on na onal tech-
nical regula ons, recognized na onal standards or building
codes’. LTA has fulfilled this agreement by specifying rele-
vant railway standards developed under the Interna onal
STANDARDISATION
Organiza on for Standardiza on Technical Commi ee 269
(ISO TC 269) on Railway Applica ons, as well as the Interna-
onal Electrotechnical Commission Technical Commi ee 9
(IEC TC 9) on Electrical Equipment and Systems for Railways.
Under the 1991 Vienna Agreement between ISO and
CEN, CEN has agreed to adopt Interna onal Standards as
European Standards, and implement parallel workflows
with the ISO, for approval of equivalent ISO and CEN
standards. IEC and CENELEC have also established similar
arrangements under the 1996 Dresden Agreement which
was recently revised and reaffirmed under the 2016
Frankfurt Agreement. These agreements are beneficial to
LTA, in that European Standards that are specified for RTS
systems can be readily updated with the equivalent ISO /
IEC Interna onal Railway Standards.
Singapore’s role in interna onal railway
standardisa on
The applica on of Interna onal Railway Standards in Sin-
gapore’s RTS lines has ensured that our technical specifica-
ons are open, consistent, transparent, and accessible to
the global railway industry. This has enabled us to be open
to exper se, technologies, best prac ces and solu ons
offered by the railway industry from around the world.
As the organisa on grows and matures, LTA has pro-
gressed beyond being just a keen prac oner and support-
er of Interna onal Railway Standards. Singapore has been
a Par cipa ng (P) Member of IEC TC 9 since 2005, and is
in a posi on to provide feedback, share our experiences,
contribute sugges ons, and influence future developments
and enhancements of Interna onal Railway Standards.
Conclusion
This ar cle has presented a brief history of the develop-
ment of the RTS in Singapore, and provided a glimpse of
ongoing and future expansion plans for the rail network.
Reasons behind the need for railway standards were dis-
cussed, and by tracing through RTS projects implement-
ed during different me periods, we have shown that
railway industry standards from around the world have
had (and con nue to have) a profound influence on the
RTS in Singapore. LTA’s role in interna onal railway stan-
dardisa on has progressed in tandem with the expansion
of our RTS network, going beyond that of a keen prac -
oner, to making ac ve contribu ons to influence future
developments of Interna onal Railway Standards.
References:
[1] Land Transport Authority (LTA): ‘White Paper: A World Class
Land Transport System’, Singapore, 1996.
[2] Land Transport Authority (LTA): ‘Land Transport Master Plan
2008’, Singapore, 2008.
[3] Land Transport Authority (LTA): ‘Land Transport Master Plan
2013’, Singapore, 2013.
[4] Melvyn Thong et al, Land Transport Authority (LTA): ‘Manag-
ing Fire Incidents at MRT Sta ons & Tunnels - Safety Features’,
Safety News, Issue 10, Singapore, 2008.
[5] Hiroshi Tanaka, Railway Technical Research Ins tute (RTRI):
‘Recent overview of interna onal standards in the railway field’,
LTA, MTR and RTRI Joint Workshop, Hong Kong, 2016.
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 35
January 2018
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

CHARGING AHEAD
by Chris Tobias, Na onal Environment Agency
Once a pipe dream, electric vehicles are gaining rapid trac on. What are their benefits, and what will
secure their widespread use in the future?

Overcoming numerous hurdles in recent years, electric
vehicles (EVs) have charged ahead, swi ly gaining a
strong foothold in many major markets worldwide. These
markets include China, Europe, the US, and Japan, which
have all become major users of EVs.
Industry data tracker EV Volumes declared 2016 as a
significant milestone, where one million pure electric ve-
hicles are now opera ng globally. And this number does
not include transi on technologies like hybrid-petrol and
hybrid-diesel vehicles that are currently on the roads.
Apart from Tesla, major manufacturers such as China’s
BYD, Korea’s Kia, Japan’s Honda, Nissan, Toyota and
Mitsubishi; the USA’s Chevy, Cadillac, and Ford; and
Europe’s Renault, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and
Volkswagen have EVs on their produc on pipeline or as
part of their offerings.
Even Singapore has an eye-popping EV supercar in the
works. Named the Dendrobium a er a species of orchid,
the sleek supercar is currently being developed by home-
grown startup Vanda Electrics for overseas markets.

Start of the race Outside of the auto

While 1 million vehicles is a rela vely small number—
considering that there are an es mated 1.2 billion vehi-
cles in the world—the emergent growth of EVs in recent
years is remarkable, with experts singling out EVs as hav-
ing a high disrup on poten al in a variety of industries.
This is a significant departure from as li le as about
two decades ago. Electric cars—or even supercar EVs—
were somewhere in-between an automo ve joke and a
long-term pipe dream. They were confined to the far-off
future, when ba ery technology would be up to snuff
and charging infrastructure would be ubiquitous.
Now, a future with EVs for all kinds of mobility and u lity
is on its way to becoming the new normal. Supercars,
compacts, and family sedans—a wide range of models
tailored for all usages and drivers can now be found.
But it would be wrong to think that the growth in EVs
stops at the automobile. An increasing number of other
applica ons—ranging from electric light commercial
vehicles, buses, heavy vehicles to off-road service vehi-
cles— are also emerging.
Envisioning a reality where EVs become ubiquitous in
industrial vehicles from forkli s to terminal trucks to rub-
bish collec on trucks, IDTechEx es mates the industrial
and commercial EV sector is valued at 60 per cent of the
en re EV market. In the next decade, it has the poten al
to grow 4.5 mes. In fact, IDTechEx notes that many of
the new technology innova ons emerge in this sector
before being u lised in cars.
In the realm of personal mobility, electric scooters,
hoverboards, bicycles, and even unicycles have become

Electric vehicles have been catching on in many parts of Europe, the US, and in China. For
example, the BMW i3 (top le ) has been selling very well in countries Spain, London and
Norway, while the EVs from US firm Tesla (above) have turned the idea of owning one
into a status symbol. Meanwhile, China’s BYD Auto (bo om le ; BYD e6 MPV pictured),
buoyed by its success domes cally, is looking to dominate the local EV market and expand
interna onally. Photos: Mariordo and anthonares

36 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

commonplace in ci es. Seen as a “last-mile” solu on,
they fill a niche in the mobility ecosystem by comple-
men ng exis ng public transport networks in major
ci es. Their easy adop on, “all-ages” accessibility, porta-
bility, wide availability, and low entry prices have made
them popular modes of transport. The introduc on of
EVs has also heralded the era of new, EV-centric business
models. Electric taxis facilitate their implementa on
through e-ups with ride-booking apps, while point-to-
point car sharing schemes, new charging networks, and
even autonomous electric vehicles are just some of the
innova ons in the works.

Cars: One of the latest models up for produc on
is the Tesla Model 3, the automaker’s most
affordable model so far, is predicted to have a
range of at least 345km, and will begin produc on
this year.
Trucks: Kansas startup Orange EV has introduced
the heavy-duty T-series electric truck that runs
on an electric drive system consis ng of 80 or
160kWh lithium ion ba ery packs, with a range of
160km between charges.
U lity vehicles: Tiny but mighty, u lity vehicles
like the Ant Truck are fast charging, and can carry
on a load of up to 1 tonne. Ease of customisa on
allows the truck to fit into various heavy-duty
industries like logis cs and waste management.

Buses: Electric buses, like the BYD K9, are on
track in slashing public transport emissions levels
down to zero. In urban road condi ons, the K9
possesses a range of up to 250km on its lithium
iron phosphate ba ery.
Taxis: Singapore’s EVA, an electric taxi suited for
tropical ci es, is the product of collabora on
between Nanyang Technological University and
the Technische Universität München (TUM), with
support from the Na onal Research Founda on.
Motorcycles: Electric motorcycles forgo the
messiness of rou ne maintenance for a simple
recharge via a household outlet. Motorcycle
heavyweight Harley-Davidson has ini ated
Project LiveWire for its fans to test out the
eponymous bikes, with the company hoping to
expand its travelling range before it launches in
the next few years.

Delivery vehicles: Delivery vehicles like the Forkli s: Electric forkli s, like ones from Toyota, Personal mobility: The range of personal
Paxster can help to streamline deliveries, with are quiet, low maintenance, and are able to do mobility devices have exploded in recent
the ability to fit onto footpaths and carry up to the same kind of job as their internal combus on years, ranging from scooters and bicycles to
200kg of mail at once. counterparts, with no ill effects on air quality. hoverboards and unicycles.

Figure 1 - Commonly found electric vehicles

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 37

January 2018
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Not just street cred
While Tesla may have finally succeeded in making the
EV a status symbol to talk about, it is not the only draw
of an EV. Besides the bragging rights of being one of the
first to own an electric car, or in the case of businesses,
the first electric bus or truck in the fleet,
there are other desirable quali es.
To ensure EVs become as commonplace as their com-
bus on-engine equivalents, governments must consider
inves ng in infrastructure to ensure that vehicles will
not run out of charge. One example is Japan, which has
40,000 charging sta ons—making it the only country
in the world where charging points outnumber petrol
sta ons, a figure that stands at 35,000.

Ride smoothness and accelera on, lower opera ng

costs, and less maintenance are noted as pull factors
for ge ng an EV over a vehicle with a typical internal
combus on engine.
In the age of climate change, EVs can also greatly reduce Fuel tank Batteries Electric Battery charge by
deceleration of
Traditional

greenhouse gas emissions associated with transpor- petrol/diesel motor motor

electric motor

ta on—and if coupled with renewable energy, elim-

inate them completely. This makes for a much more
climate-friendly ride, especially for those in areas with
limited public transport op ons. Hybrid EV: Hybrid vehicles are powered by an internal combus on
engine that runs on conven onal fuel, with an electric motor that
The widespread adop on of EVs can eventually lead draws energy from the ba ery.
to be er air quality for ci es, as EVs emit no tailpipe
emissions. Thus, common urban vehicle pollutants like
nitrogen and sulphur oxides, low-level ozone, carbon
monoxide, and par culate ma er will be eliminated,
allowing urban ci zens to breathe easier with their shi Fuel tank Electric Battery charge by Traditional
to EVs. petrol/diesel
Batteries
motor deceleration of
electric motor
motor

Speed bumps
While developments have signalled that EVs are moving Plug-in Hybrid EV: Hybrid vehicles are powered by an internal
in the right direc on with posi ve effects, the highway to combus on engine that runs on conven onal fuel, with an electric
widespread adop on remains marred with speed bumps, motor that draws energy from the ba ery.

as technology zooms ahead of schedule.

Globally, governments need to help make a level playing
field for EVs to con nue their expansion. Taxes, incen-
ves, policies, and regula ons need to be revisited with
EVs in mind as they veer significantly away from the Batteries
Electric
motor
Battery charge by
deceleration of

usual percep ons of petrol cars. electric motor

For instance, Norway has established a number of in-

cen ves to increase uptake: purchasing tax exemp ons,
waiving charges on toll roads, free parking and access
to public bus lanes for motorists to ease into the idea of
EVs. In 2017, EVs commanded 22 per cent market share
in the country.
All-Electric EV: Pure electric vehicles are powered by a ba ery, which
is charged by plugging the vehicle into an electric power source.
Figure 2 - Vehicle Types

Cleaner air quality, Reduced or eliminated

Elimina on of No tailpipe No vehicle emi ed especially in crowded greenhouse gas emissions
vehicular fossil emissions air pollutants like ci es (depending on origin of electricity
fuels use carbon monoxide or used to charge the EV)
par culate ma er

Figure 3 - Environmental benefits of electric vehicles.

38 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
The Singapore-designed
Dendrobium EV supercar
premiered in March 2017
at the Geneva Auto Show.
An increasingly wide range
of EV types are in the works
worldwide.
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

To be er integrate charging sta ons into exis ng infra- Users in London recently learned the hard way when
structure, they can be situated in areas like parking lots contractual confusion led to chargers being put out of
and garages, exis ng petrol sta ons, bus depots, truck service in several areas of the city.
stops, fleet centres, or even integrated into parking spots
along city streets. Shoring up for change
But part of rolling out infrastructure involves adop ng Meanwhile, in Singapore, an EV test bed programme is
widespread charging standards and plug types that cover currently in progress to help iden fy important consid-
all types of EVs currently on the roads today. This is no era ons for rolling out EV infrastructure, a feat that in-
small task: there are now around eight different plug volves the coopera on of various major industry players
types for various models of EVs in opera on in the US, and a pool of commercial users.
Europe, China, Japan and other regions. Regular and fast
charging modes also require different fit-outs and safety EV tes ng extends to public transport as well: Build Your
precau ons. Dreams (BYD), a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of elec-
tric automobiles, came on board with the Land Trans-
Careful selec on in this regard is necessary to avoid port Authority (LTA) and local public transport provider
inves ng in inappropriate charging equipment, or ones Go-Ahead for Singapore’s first e-bus trial. An electric bus,
that will soon be obsolete. Building codes and green which could have a range of up to 250km on a 10-hour
building standards also must keep pace for easy instal- charge, successfully completed its trials in mid-2017.
la on of charging facili es, and to ensure appropriate
electricity provisions exist for EVs. In a separate development, in late February of 2017,
HDT taxis in Singapore also announced the launch of
Once built, the charging infrastructure would need to be its first fleet of 50 electric taxis. By October last year, it
con nuously maintained to ensure reliability. had 100 cabs in its fleet and was planning to expand the

Car connects to normal household socket via normal cable

(not recommended)

Residen al

Car connects to normal household socket via a

charging cable with charging control and an inline
module with current protec ve device
(Home charging)

Car with onboard EV charging device connects

to EV supply equipment that includes a
Public
control module, via a charging cable
(AC public charging)

Car connects to AC network with a rec fier.

An AC/DC-sensi ve residual current circuit breaker
Fast lies on the network side, and overcurrent protec ve
devices for AC/DC are needed
(DC public charging)

Figure 4 - How EVs tap into the grid. Source: Sustainable Energy Associa on of Singapore

Type 1 SAE J1772 Type 2 Mennekes

Type 3 SCAME
S ll used in the USA, S ll used in Europe,
AC S ll used in Italy and
unofficial standard in and adopted as
France, but not a standard
Japan Singapore’s standard
compa ble

compa ble

CHAdeMO
Combined Charging Combined Charging System Widely used in Japan,
GB/T
DC System (CCS) Combo 1 (CCS) Combo 2 Europe and the USA,
China standard
USA standard since 2013 European Union standard since 2013 unofficial fast-charging
standard in Japan
compa ble via adaptor

Figure 5 - Types of EV charging plugs and modes. Source: Sustainable Energy Associa on of Singapore

40 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018

number to 900. Across the island, 57 charging facili es
have been made available to keep the cars rolling—a key
considera on for successful opera on.
Infrastructure remains a pressing concern, especially in
land-scarce Singapore. To equip the island for a possible
deluge of electric vehicles in the future, Greenlots,
a global provider for EV networks, has added addi on-
al EV charging sta ons at CapitaLand proper es in the
Central Business District (CBD) and other loca ons. Over
the next few years, Greenlots plans to triple the number
of charging sta ons and loca ons currently available in
Singapore.
Tailored to Singaporeans’ demands for both mobility and
flexibility in transport choices, BlueSG has signed an agree-
ment with LTA and the Economic Development Board to
operate a na onwide electric car-sharing programme.
This service was launched in December 2017 - drivers
can collect their cars at a neighbourhood carpark, and
when they are done, return the vehicle at their final des-
na on. Towns like Ang Mo Kio, Jurong East and Punggol
will be the first to experience the programme, with 50
EV sta ons and 250 charging points installed. BlueSG
aims to introduce 1,000 EVs to the programme by 2020,
and to install an islandwide EV charging infrastructure
consis ng of 2,000 charging points—20 per cent of which
will be open for public use.
The capital “C”
As with many other new technology types, EVs can o en
be more expensive when pi ed against their conven on-
al alterna ves. But this is star ng to change. As greater
numbers of EVs roll into mass produc on, aided by bat-
tery technology improvements and greater produc on
levels, prices will begin to drop.
For would-be users to get over the ini al s cker shock,
it may take some convincing. While one may have to pay
more up front as a capital expense, opera onal expenses
in the way of fuel and maintenance can be substan ally
lower for EVs. Aspects like these are bound to appeal to
owners of taxi and bus fleets, which would ordinarily be
shouldering heavy usage and fuel costs.
Awareness and a tudes
In spite of the successes, there are s ll some people
wary of EVs. In a recent whitepaper, the Sustainable
Energy Associa on of Singapore (SEAS) explored some of
the perceived drawbacks.
They noted that despite the impressive range of EVs,
there are those who worry about ge ng to a charger
in me. It will take me for consumers to change their
a tudes and understanding of the technology.
However, SEAS highlighted the range of electric cars has im-
proved drama cally, with some reaching as high as 390km
on a single charge, while others hover around 120–160km
mark. This is impressive, considering an average car usage
per day might be 40–50km in a typical urban environment.
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
For heavy use vehicles like buses, delivery vehicles,
or other fleet vehicles which may be driven far more
than 50km in a day, charging infrastructure needs to be
accessible for topping up on-the-go, to encourage larger
network operators to make the change.
The white paper notes safety is also something under
scru ny, as ba ery packs, charging infrastructure, and
the powerful electricity sources that they tap into all
pose a certain risk.
While incidents are few and far between so far, some are
s ll cau ous.
Switching to EVs—be it for personal driving or for some
industrial or commercial purpose—does require a
change of mindset from the consumer’s perspec ve.
But SEAS summarises that combus on engine vehicles
currently in opera on have their own maintenance and
reliability issues, not to men on a defini ve environmen-
tal downside of causing pollu on and increased green-
house gas emissions.
Se ng sights on electric
But despite these factors, the global future of EVsremains
bright. Major automo ve makers like Mecedes-Benz, Tesla
Motors and Mitsubishi Motors have already announced
plans for all-electric commercial vehicles like trucks and
vans—with some of them already on produc on lines.
New electric vehicle concepts are con nuously unveiled,
including a Volvo prototype that enables the en re car
body to serve as a rechargeable ba ery to increase its
driving range. It is conceivable that it is only a ma er of
me before EVs grow in acceptance for a mul tude of
uses—supported by lower costs, incen ves and infra-
structure to give the green light.
A glimpse into the future: the energy independent
electric vehicle
It is also conceivable that technology will move quickly
beyond EVs as we know them. According to IDTechEx,
energy independent electric vehicles (EIVs) are an emer-
gent class of vehicles that possess their own power-gen-
era ng source. Some examples include vehicles powered
by wind or solar energy, or powered by trac on fuel
cells (with the hydrogen fuel being made onboard using
sunlight or from other energy harves ng methods), and
vehicles that harvest ambient power (aided by features
like sails). They note that drawing power from mul ple
sources of energy increases security of supply, reducing
intermi ency and the need for ba eries. IDTechEx also
highlights that in the coming decades, EIVs will increasingly
be offered for sale as viable solu ons for an ever-wider
variety of tasks by land, water and air—with some already
in regular use underwater and in the upper atmosphere.
This ar cle previously appeared in Issue 12 of the Na onal
Environment Agency’s ENVISION Magazine. To read more
about these and other topics, please visit: h p://www.nea.
gov.sg/training-knowledge/publica ons/envision-magazine
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 41
January 2018
PERSPECTIVE
THE ACCELERATION
OF CHANGE
by Er. Aaron Foong, Director, KTP Consultants Pte Ltd
Technology is increasing the pace of change and disrup ng every aspect
of modern life. Engineers of the future will face a cri cal challenge to
lead, shape, plan and integrate the built environment solu ons that
allow society to live safe and rewarding lives.
Engineers of the future are challenged to lead, shape, plan and
integrate built environment solu ons that allow people to live safe and
rewarding lives.
I vividly recall my school days when mechanical pencils
were a novelty. Today, not only are there many more differ-
ent wri ng tools to choose from, even the humble piece of
paper has morphed into the modern electronic tablet.
Communica on has evolved, enabling society to fully
embrace the digital world. In the same way, businesses
are moving fast and changing to embrace the on-going
digital disrup on. Across society we see that digital is
the new normal, disrup on is real and technology has
become the key enabler.
Engineers working in the built environment sector have
also seen emerging digital technologies promote tremen-
dous change, impac ng all aspects of work, from design
to procurement to construc on and asset management.
New applica ons and tools are emerging, driven by digi-
talisa on of informa on and technological innova on.
New tools to solve new problems
The explosion in knowledge-sharing has had a profound
impact on our lives. At the click of a mouse or swipe of
42 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
January 2018
Er. Aaron Foong
a touchscreen, we can now access the informa on we
need and find answers to virtually any ques ons we ask.
In the old-world view, technology was an outcome of
engineering. Today, we are riding the reverse wave,
with technology now very much a tool assis ng our
engineering processes. It enhances our crea ve process
and helps to maximise all relevant resources as we solve
problems. Where technology was once an opera onal
requirement, it is now the clear strategic differen ator.
In the built environment, applica ons like Virtual Design
and Construc on (VDC) are increasing our visibility and
communica on clarity.
Our economy is influenced by the global marketplace
for engineering services. We see a growing demand for
interdisciplinary and system-based approaches and an
increasingly diverse talent pool.
But cri cally, the steady integra on of technology
into our infrastructure and lives also demands that
engineers develop safe mechanisms and appropriate
strategies to protect the public from the risks that this
disrup on brings.
Communica ng the new solu ons developed
Predic ng the future with precision is not possible. How-
ever, scenario-based strategic planning can help us un-
derstand these risks and future possibili es. It can assist
our thinking about the future of engineering. Within the
realms of our intellectual capacity, we must be con nu-
ously challenged to an cipate future needs, find resilient
proposi ons and build on ideas that are cost-effec ve.
And at cri cal junctures, it will require paradigm shi s in
our thinking to challenge the establishment.
This will require team players with effec ve communica-
on skills and an understanding of the complex issues of
a global market and the social context in which we oper-
ate. They must be able to ar culate the value proposi on
of engineering and infrastructure investment to both
technical and public audiences.
Ideas need to be prac cal and pragma c, and engineers
must remain open, flexible, recep ve to change and
respec ul. And with technology increasingly providing

engineers with a common pool of tools, the future differ-
en ators will be the quality of ar cula on and rigour of
the thought - put into finding and delivering cost-effec-
ve, resilient and prac cal engineering designs.
Experience and integrity
Regardless of technology, it will be experience and inno-
va on, plus the ability to cross-fer lise ideas, that will
enable the engineering community to add value through
its services.
Such innovation is likely to be through application of
approaches from different sectors. The context of a
great design is no longer viewed from the angle of
aesthetics, but more often, from holistic qualities.
These might include fitness for purpose, safe design,
energy efficiency, flexibility of future reuse or the way
that infrastructure complements its surroundings over
the long term.
Integrity must con nue to underpin the core principles
of our engineering work. We must be constantly re-
With its bold design, The Sco s Tower, an award-winning private
residen al project by Surbana Jurong, has pushed the boundaries of
engineering. Image by Far East Organiza on.
PERSPECTIVE
minded of the relentless duty that we owe to the public
at large, and to be honest in our day-to-day delivery of
work. While we engage in ever bolder design solu ons
that push the boundaries of engineering possibility, we
must always be guided by first principles of safety.
This approach will preserve the quality of our work in
this complex environment. In our day-to-day opera ons,
we are habitually guided by the essen al scru ny that
cau ons us on the probability of error against the possi-
bility of success. This helps to cul vate an honest, down-
to-earth approach, coupled with the ability to graciously
admit what we could have done be er.
Even more so, when we increase our carbon footprint
on Mother Earth, we must work hard to ensure that
sustainability becomes an important driver. Incorpora ng
life-cycle thinking in all engineering design will become
the norm. Solu ons today will need to be adapted to
incorporate the inevitable improvements and innova on
brought about by future technologies.
Some believe that the emerging, digitally enabled era
will eventually eliminate the profession of Engineering.
I disagree that this will be the case.
We have seen how IKEA has changed the furniture in-
dustry, raising ques ons on whether the same will hap-
pen on a larger scale across the built environment. Will
the digitally printed and flat package be the eventual
outcome of our built environment? It does not sound
too remote and the future possibili es of technology
are endless.
And if that is the case, it is even more vital that the
engineer’s brain remains focused on solving society’s
fundamental problems, fully integra ng core knowledge
and skills from across the various disciplines.
Future challenges and opportuni es
The future of engineering will be defined by even greater
challenges and opportuni es. As the economic compet-
i veness, military strength and standard of living of a
na on are closely linked to its engineering ability, we will
con nue to play a pivotal role in this collabora ve effort,
solving societal problems long into the future.
However, engineers will have to embrace a major lead-
ership role in this technological society. This will see us
shape, plan, generate and integrate new and possibly
revolu onary solu ons and ideas to meet growing chal-
lenges in our society.
We are all par cipants in a dynamically changing and
evolving interconnected world, guided by the hands of
social, cultural, poli cal, and economic forces. So, as we
con nue to design endless exci ng future possibili es,
we must remember to reflect upon the fundamentals of
professionalism.
Globally, change is taking place at a frene c pace. This is
no moment for engineers to rest.
(KTP Consultants Pte Ltd is a member of the Surbana
Jurong Group)
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 43
January 2018
IES UPDATE

SUTD PARTNERS IES TO EXPAND SKILLSFUTURE COURSE OFFERINGS IN

ENGINEERING AND OTHER GROWTH SECTORS

Minister for Educa on (Higher Educa on and Skills) Ong Ye Kung (4th from le ), SUTD Ac ng President and Provost Prof Chong Tow Chong (11th from
le ) together with representa ves from all the MOU signatories. IES Deputy President Dr Yeoh Lean Weng is standing 6th from right. Photo: SUTD

The Singapore University of Technology and Design

(SUTD) launched its new SUTD Academy on 10 January
2018 in support of the SkillsFuture Series of training pro-
grammes. In collabora on with 13 strategic partners, it
will offer 20 new Con nuing Educa on and Training (CET)
courses in cybersecurity, data analy cs, engineering,
urban solu ons and tech-enabled services.
These courses, taught by SUTD faculty, staff and adjunct
faculty/fellows, will provide more engineering and de-
sign-centric professional educa on op ons to jobseekers,
mid-career professionals, execu ves and senior manage-
ment. The Academy aims to develop up to 60 courses in
the next five years.
The MOU will see SUTD collaborate with 13 other partners, both public
At the launch event, SUTD’s Ac ng President and Provost, and private, including IES. Photo: SUTD
Professor Chong Tow Chong, also signed MOUs with the
13 partners to formalise the collabora on. IES was repre- To maintain the quality of class delivery, class sizes are
sented by Deputy President Dr Yeoh Lean Weng. capped at 20 to 25 students per instructor. Since the
For its part, the Ins tu on, through its training arm (IES courses are typically technical in nature, some basic scien-
Academy), will work with its SUTD counterpart to share fic/technical knowledge will be expected of par cipants.
resources and co-develop customised programmes.
SUTD further men oned in its press statement that the
The aim of these programmes is to keep engineering pool of instructors would be augmented by established
professionals up-to-date with the latest technological de- industry leaders in relevant fields of exper se. They
velopments, and help them stay relevant in the evolving would be iden fied and engaged as SUTD Academy
job market. This will provide yet another avenue for them Adjunct Fellows, allowing them to play an advisory role
to enhance their skillsets in the face of new demands in to the Academy, and assist with course development and
the disrup ve economy. training, so as to meet urgent industry needs.
Some programmes will introduce SUTD’s signature Minister for Educa on (Higher Educa on and Skills) Ong
Big-Design concepts to par cipants and require them to Ye Kung, who officiated the Academy launch, also an-
work as a team to iden fy and develop a real solu on/ nounced that his Ministry will be se ng aside up to SGD
prototype that solves a technical problem they will face in
75 million to bolster SUTD’s growth plans.
the course of their work.

44 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
IES UPDATE

IES CHARTERED ENGINEER

CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME
EXPANDS TO THE PORT AND MARINE SECTOR

To develop engineering talent

for the mari me industry, IES
and PSA Corpora on announced
on 11 January 2018 that the
Chartered Engineer cer fica on
programme had been extended
to engineers in the port and
marine sector.
Launched by IES in 2013, the
Chartered Engineer cer fica-
on programme is an external
valida on of an engineer’s
experience, exper se and
technical competence across
various sectors. This collabora- The first batch of Chartered Engineers for the Port and Marine sector take a group photo with Er. Ong See
on allows port engineers with Ho, Chairman, IES Chartered Engineer Board (first row, 5th from le ); Mr Ong (6th from le ) and Dr Yeoh
the requisite experience and (7th from le ).
training to be conferred a glob-
ally recognised and pres gious
cer fica on of engineering professionalism.
IES Deputy President Dr Yeoh Lean Weng and PSA Inter-
na onal Regional CEO (Southeast Asia) Ong Kim Pong
presented the Chartered Engineer cer ficates to the pi-
oneer batch of 13 engineers from the Mari me and Port
Authority of Singapore, PSA, Jurong Port, Portek Interna-
onal and Na onal University of Singapore.
These engineers passed a rigorous assessment process
that examined their experience and skills in managing
complex engineering systems and their commitment to
developing the skills of others in the engineering pro-
fession. They will form the assessment panel for this Invited guests browsing an interac ve display at the Intelligent Port of
par cular sector. the Future exhibi on.
In tandem with the cer fica on, PSA will collaborate with
IES to iden fy relevant skills development programmes Tuas mega port and strengthen Singapore’s posi on as a
for the engineers to enhance their engineering capa- leading global mari me hub.
bili es, to meet the needs of the intelligent port of the One of the Chartered Engineers who was appointed at
future. the a ernoon ceremony was Mr Jonathan Lee, Assistant
Said Mr Ong: “PSA is delighted to have found in IES a Vice President, Pasir Panjang Terminal 1 Engineering.
like-minded partner that believes in the professionalisa- “I appreciate this interna onal recogni on as it spurs me
on and development of engineers. This collabora on on to deepen my professional knowhow, drive innova on
will elevate the pres ge of engineering careers in the port and develop new technologies to meet the needs of the
industry, a rac ng and retaining the talent needed for future,” he said.
the future.”
The launch also coincided with a PSA exhibi on on the In-
Adding on, Dr Yeoh men oned that “the programme’s telligent Port of the Future, showcasing technologies such
stringent peer review system and interna onal bench- as automated cranes, self-driving vehicles and exoskele-
marking will help to build a strong core of competent tons. These are currently undergoing development and
engineers”, so as to to support the development of the will be deployed at Singapore’s ports in the coming years.

46 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018
 IES UPDATE

IES MEMBERS GAIN FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF FUTURE

RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY FOR DEPOTS AND TRAINS

Coordina ng Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan (7th from le ), together with the chiefs of LTA and various
suppor ng partners at the start of the event.

On 13 November 2017, the Land Transport Authority
(LTA) organised the “Future Railway Technology for De-
pots & Trains” event at Tuas West Depot. It was support-
ed by ST Engineering, SMRT Trains and SBS Transit, and
demonstrated how technological innova ons could help
value-add and enhance the efficiency of different work
processes within and beyond the train depot.
The event was also held to reach out to the professional
community, so as to further develop local interest and
capabili es in railway engineering.
Hosted by the Singapore Rail Academy, the IES Railway &
Transporta on Engineering Technical Commi ee a end-
ed the event in the a ernoon, following a visit by the
Coordina ng Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for
Transport Khaw Boon Wan in the morning.
Nine ini a ves in three work processes were exhibited to
showcase the ongoing effort to improve rail reliability and
produc vity by leveraging new technologies.
At the same me, technological advances also facilitate
predic ve maintenance, allowing our railway engineers
to monitor, detect and rec fy poten al faults before it
happens, thereby improving our overall rail reliability and
ensuring smooth journeys for commuters.
Before deploying any new ini a ves, LTA conducts rigor-
ous assessments and tes ng together with operators to
ensure that such investments are suitable for the local
environment and value-add to the work processes of
railway professionals.
It was an insigh ul and knowledgeable visit for all. A post-
event survey ne ed feedback such as “The site demo was
very interes ng and gave us a very insigh ul look into
depot opera ons & technologies”.
A member also felt that events like this should be opened
up to the public to drum up awareness on the effort put
in to raise the standards of the rail system”.

Work Processes Technology

Data Collec on 1. Automa c Track Inspec on System

2. Automa c Vehicle Inspec on System

Data Processing 3. Integrated Maintenance & Diagnos cs Centre

Maintenance and 4. Maintenance Management Mobile Device

Opera ons 5. Depot Facility Management Display
6. Augmented Reality
7. Virtual Reality (VR)
8. Addi ve Manufacturing (3D Prin ng)
9. Autonomous Mobile Robot (TUG)

These will enable railway operators to achieve greater

work efficiency and produc vity. Visitors at the Depot Facility Management Display Exhibi on booth.

THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 47

January 2018
IES UPDATE

ENGINEERING DON SHARES HIS THOUGHTS

ON SINGAPORE’S ENGINEERING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

A very special guest turned up at IES for the 9 November func ons such as flood protec on, storm water harvest-
2017 edi on of Members’ Night: Professor Lui Pao Chuen, ing and electricity storage.
IES Honorary Fellow, Life me Engineering Achievement
The la er half of his talk touched upon climate change,
Award recipient, former Chief Defence Scien st and cur-
with extreme weather and rising sea levels real chal-
rent Advisor to the Na onal Research Founda on.
lenges that Singapore will face. Climate change also has
Prof Lui was invited to speak at the event, where he dis- an impact on energy security as countries a empt to
cussed with members the shared engineering challenges reduce their reliance on fossil fuel, seeking alterna ve
and opportuni es for Singapore, as well as the ma er of energy sources such as renewable energy and nuclear
energy security. His vast experience in all ma ers of engi- power. Capping his talk off, Prof Lui highlighted some of
neering and R&D, gained in his 41 years with the the different technologies used in other countries that
Ministry of Defence, meant that his words were worth Singapore could possibly learn from.
their weight in gold.
Many of the par cipants were considerably enlightened
During the talk, Prof Lui highlighted the scarcity of land and gained deeper insight into Singapore’s future and
as a major na onal challenge and a perennial issue to that of engineers a er this session.
be tackled. He shared his experience with designing and
building the Underground Ammuni on Facility (UAF) for
the Singapore Armed Forces, located within a disused
granite quarry at Mandai.
For him and his team, the challenge was to develop a
large ammuni on depot that was situated less than a ki-
lometre from residen al buildings, something which had
not been done before anywhere in the world. It was a ne-
cessity as the previous above-ground ammuni on storage
site took up far more space than its physical area due to
the necessity for a buffer zone in case of an explosion.
To that end, the government invested SGD 12 million to Professor Lui speaking during Members’ Night.
research, test and evaluate the possibility of an under-
ground facility, which culminated in the UAF and result-
ed in land savings of some 100 hectares, in addi on to
freeing up more than 300 hectares for development. The
safety standards developed during this project were of
such high quality that they were adopted by the United
States and the North Atlan c Treaty Organiza on.
Prof Lui then went into details about the opera ons
analysis used to determine the design requirements of
the UAF and the layout of UAF storage chambers. He also
pointed out that the rocks and caverns could fulfil other Er. Edwin Khew presen ng a token of apprecia on to Prof Lui.

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48 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER

January 2018