SINGAPORE: Construction of the Downtown Line (DTL)
will go full swing when work on the third phase kicks off on
Monday.
The 42-kilometre Downtown Line is being constructed
in three phases - DTL 1, DTL 2 and DTL 3.
The first two stages are progressing well.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told Channel NewsAsia that DTL 1
is now 85 percent complete while DTL 2 is 40 percent done.
The DTL, Singapore's fifth MRT line, will boost connectivity from
the northwest to the central-eastern areas.
Work on 12 stations on DTL 2, which runs along the Bukit Timah
corridor towards the city, is on track for completion in
2015.
It will provide commuters living in Bukit Panjang and Bukit Timah
better access to the rest of the island.
Excavation work has begun at Cashew, Beauty World, Botanic Gardens,
Stevens, Newton and Little India stations.
At the Botanic Gardens station, three of the seven levels have been
excavated.
LTA's senior project manager for Botanic Gardens station, Lim Bock
Ho, said: "Below the fourth level, that's when we will encounter
rock and that's when we have to do blasting."
He said one of the challenges of building the Botanic Gardens
station is the need to take care of the environmental impact.
Behind the station is an eco-lake, so "we don't want to spoil the
biodiversity of this area. Our aim is to not to have contaminated
the water going into the eco-lake, otherwise the flora and fauna
will be dead," said Mr Lim.
"The other challenge is because we are located beside the existing
Circle Line station, our job is to make sure that we don't disrupt
the operation of the existing station," added Mr Lim.
A 100-metre linkway will provide commuters easy access between the
Botanic Gardens Downtown Line station and the Circle Line
station.
Work on DTL 1, which runs through some busy corridors like Bugis
and Chinatown, is almost complete.
The basic structure of all six stations is up while electrical and
mechanical works are underway.
DTL 1, which is due for completion in 2013, is a loop connected to
DTL 3, which runs to eastern towns like Bedok and Tampines.
So travelling from Chinatown to Bedok Reservoir will take 35
minutes instead of 50 minutes currently.
All 34 DTL stations will be fully operational in 2017. They will
serve about half-a-million commuters daily.
- CNA/ir