Nicoll Highway reopens!!!

sbst275 SG

From SBS press release, seems that it would reopen on 6 Dec

PJ_Quek SG

Good news. ECP and Kallang Rd will have less traffic Very Happy

sbst275 SG

And Sv 10, 14, 16, 70, 196 will have better PM Peak frequency

PJ_Quek SG

Nicoll Highway reopens to traffic after reconstruction

SINGAPORE : Nicoll Highway has reopened more than seven months after the April 20 construction site cave-in which killed four people.

Reconstruction started in August, and after three months and S$3 million of repairs, the 48-year-old Nicoll Highway is once more ready to take on traffic.

There are no traces of the April 20 cave-in.

The accident site has been stabilised and strengthened by 56 piles going as deep as 50 metres.

Large holes were first drilled into the ground, and then filled with cement.

The Land Transport Authority says each of the piles can take a load of 1050 tonnes -- that is the weight of more than 1,000 cars.

The road was then rebuilt over the piles and re-surfaced.

Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong road-tested the highway with a 40-vehicle convoy.

While glad that the road was rebuilt in record time, the minister says a decision on how to proceed with work on the Circle Line MRT at this site will be made in the coming weeks.

Mr Yeo said, "One option is of course to rebuild over the collapse area, and excavate where the old line was. The other option is to go to a different alignment; that means you sacrifice what has been done and then you do a completely new excavation along the new alignment.

"Whichever way we take it, it is likely that the Circle Line for Phase 1 would be delayed by probably up to two years."

Bus services plying Nicoll Highway will resume on Monday.

Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries at Kallang Road and Nicoll Highway will also be activated on the same day.

With the reopening, ERP rates for the ECP gantry at Fort Road will be reduced accordingly.

While the reopening of the Nicoll Highway closes a chapter of the cave-in, the hearing into the cause of the collapse continues.

From December 7, the Committee of Inquiry will be taking a break, and will reconvene in January next year. More key witnesses are expected to testify.

PJ_Quek SG

Nicoll Highway Inquiry: LTA project manager admits being irresponsible towards safety

SINGAPORE : A project manager responsible for the Circle Line tunneling works at Nicoll Highway admitted he had an "utterly callous" and "irresponsible attitude towards safety".

Wong Hon Peng, who is from the Land Transport Authority, said this in court on Tuesday as he was being cross-examined by Mr Philip Jeyaretnam, the counsel for Nishitmatsu, the main contractor for the Circle Line.

Evidence brought up by Mr Jeyaretnam included email correspondence between Wong and his LTA design team.

This showed that Wong was informed four days before the collapse that the temporary retaining wall had deflected to the point of breaking.

But Wong's first concern, as indicated in his response to the email, was that any solution adopted should not bring about claims against LTA.

This was despite the fact that Wong, as the Engineer's representative, was also responsible for work safety.

Asked by Mr Jeyaretnam if he took the email warning of the situation seriously, the Project Manager said he should have, but he was "preoccupied with some other things".

Describing his handling of the warning email as an "oversight", Wong said he did not raise the matter with anyone, nor did he give instructions to stop the excavation work.

Four people died in the Nicoll Highway collapse.

PJ_Quek SG

Circle Line stage one likely to be delayed by 2 years: Yeo

SINGAPORE: Stage one of the MRT Circle Line is expected to be ready in 2009, two years later than expected.

This follows the massive cave-in at Nicoll Highway in April which affected works on the Circle Line.

Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said the Land Transport Authority is now studying two options for the proposed Nicoll Highway station.

One is to re-build over the cave-in area where the original Circle Line is.

The other way is to sacrifice works that had been done and do a new alignment.

Mr Yeo said both options will still result in the same delay time frame.

He said: "If there's a need for a new alignment, then we will have to look at building a brand new station, probably a little bit further away from the present site. The pros and cons of two options are now being studied."

"I think LTA should be able to come to a conclusion in the coming weeks. Whichever option we take, it's likely that the Circle Line for the Phase 1, will be delayed by probably up to two years," he added.

"We were originally expecting the Phase One to be operational by 2007. After the accident, the assessment is that we can only open it around 2009, so it's two years' delay," Mr Yeo said.

Asked about the ongoing inquiry into the Nicoll Highway accident, Mr Yeo said the committee is going through the proceedings in a very comprehensive manner.

He said this is good as authorities have to get to the root cause of the accident.

Mr Yeo was speaking on Saturday morning as he led a convoy of 40 cars across the newly repaired section of the Nicoll Highway that is now open to all traffic, ahead of its expected end-December deadline.

sbs&tibs SG

I think they want to reroute the part on Nicoll Highway.