Bulldozers are employed to level the site area
being retrieved per month. This is con- sistent with the budgeted achievement and indicates that 20,000 to 25,000 cu. yds. of fill per day is not disappear- ing out to sea by tidal action but is in fact staying put.
Noise and dust have been reduced to a minimum by adopting electrically driven machinery. Some noise is in evitable at belt conveyor driving stat- ions and at the leading edge of reclam- ation where two to three bulldozers push the soil into the sea.
The noise nuisance produced by the latter is only temporary at any one residential area as the reclamation is progressing towards the City at the rate of 40 ft. to 80 ft. a day depending on the width of reclamation.
By comparison with conventional methods of executing the earthwork such as tractor shovels for excavation of soil, trucks for transporting some 20,000 cu. yds. of soil a day and bull- dozers for levelling the soil, the distur- bance to householders can be said to have been negligible.
As for dust, and the conveyance of 'dust producing' soils on an 8 miles journey, six of which are alongside expensive residential property, no pro- blem has arisen sufficiently to become an aerial nuisance.
The cut-side is divided by the Upper Changi Road running eastwest. To remove soil from the northern area a tunnel was built under this road and through which seven million cu. yds. of soil were carried on a conveyor during the period from January 1967 to September 1968. The conveyor was later dismantled for use on another part of the site.
Similarly the bridge across Upper East Coast Road was in use for carry- ing the main conveyor leading to the beach until January 1969 after which this route for conveyors was shortened and now passes over a new bridge about 2 miles nearer to the City.
One thousand acres were to be form- ed on the coast under the original con- tract but a further 125 acres were awarded to the contractor to extend the reclamation from Singapore Swim- ming Club to the top of Tanjong Rhu, an extended length of some 11⁄4 miles.
To proceed with the extension, a special shore stabilisation work is re- quired by constructing a dredged and sand-filled channel in the seabed. This work commenced on January 1969.
Nett sediment movement along the new shore is present. To combat this long term problem stone "headlands' in the form of breakwaters are being
constructed along the edge of the newly placed full and spaced at some 1,000 ft. apart instead of a continuous sea- wall. The effect of such ‘headlands' on waves would cause the shoreline be- tween them to erode until a stable condition is reached.
The general public will no doubt take every advantage of all opportun- ities which may be offered both for business and for recreation when the Government's plans are announced for the utilisation of the reclaimed area after the whole project is completed.
Contractors
The schemes have been developed by the Civil Engineering Section of the Building Department of the Hous- ing & Development Board. Main Con- tractor for the works is Ohbayashi- Gumi Ltd. of Japan. Sub-contractors include:
Toa Harbor Works Co. Ltd. (Tokyo & Singapore) - Dredging works
Lian Hup Han & Co. (Singapore) Drainage and seawall Plant suppliers are: Orestein-Koppel and Krupp of West Germany - Main supplier
Celbuilding Ltd. - Conveyor frames Bando, Japan - Conveyor beltings PROK, Australia - Conveyor idlers
32
Far East BUILDER, September 1969