Bridging the gap in Jurong West

A bridge segment being transferred from one crane to another, while hoisted in the air, in Jurong West in the early hours of March 23. The beam is being installed as part of a pedestrian overhead bridge.

In the wee hours of a Saturday in March, an elaborate dance of heavy machinery takes place on a closed-off stretch of the PIE, set to the soundtrack of metal, concrete and construction.

A concrete beam measuring more than 30m and weighing over 200 tonnes is lifted in the air by two heavy-duty mobile cranes. One of the cranes serves as a pivot as the beam is rotated and transferred to a third crane before being laid down.

“The three cranes have to coordinate their movements in a precise way within a very tight space, so it’s like a tango between three dancers,” said Ms Finn Tay, 46, director of New Estates Division 1 at JTC Corporation.

Workers hooking the beam to a crane in preparation for the hoisting operation in Jurong West.

A new 110m long, 8m wide overhead bridge is being built by JTC over the PIE to link Jurong Eco-Garden and Jurong West.

A beam being transported to a site in Jurong West, where it will be installed as part of a pedestrian overhead bridge.

Workers checking the alignment of the beam as it is being installed over the PIE.

A worker (right) grinding the surface of a supporting column to ensure it fits with an installed segment of the bridge.

The project commenced in March 2021 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

The bridge will give Jurong West residents easier access to Jurong Eco-Garden, Nanyang Technological University, the future MRT station at CleanTech Park, and the Jurong Innovation District (JID), added Ms Tay.

It will also be the first overhead bridge in Jurong West that allows cycling, with dedicated walking and cycling paths, and links up with the Round Island Route park connector.

Ms Tay said: “We hope that it can encourage more people to walk and cycle, which is consistent with our aim to promote a car-lite district in JID.”

This project is more complicated than building a typical pedestrian bridge, said Mr Wilkie Teh, 50, a principal project manager at JTC.

At 8m wide, the bridge is double the width of a typical pedestrian bridge. Each span of the bridge consists of two precast segments that are positioned parallel to each other.

“This makes it akin to building two parallel bridges,” he added.

Standard bridge fabrication usually takes about two months, but this overhead bridge took about three months to fabricate in the precast yard in Pioneer Sector 2. The number of workers needed for the job was also doubled from 15 to 30 workers at the precast yard.

Transporting each concrete beam from the precast yard to the construction site in Jurong West was also more complex than normal due to restrictions posed by the space in the precast yard, and the type of crane available to support the weight of the beam.

Each of the two segments that make up the bridge is 60 tonnes heavier than one span of a typical bridge.

“We require up to four hours to load each beam onto a truck compared to 45 minutes usually,” said Mr Aung Thu, 32, project engineer at precast concrete supplier Coninco.

At the site, the team faces a race against time to install the beams.

“The operation has to be completed within a short time frame. The hoisting and installing of the bridge segments across the PIE is permitted only between midnight and 6am,” said Mr Teh.

The installation of the bridge segments is slated to be completed by the end of April.

JTC will then install the sheltered linkway leading to the bridge, planter boxes, lifts, shelter, railings and lighting, and carry out landscaping.

Upon completion, more than 63,000 Jurong West residents can use the bridge to reduce their walking time to JID by around 35 minutes.

A worker securing reinforcing bars of the bridge planter wall at the Coninco precast yard on Feb 6.

A worker measuring the moisture content of ready-mix concrete, to ensure quality control, at the precast yard.

Concrete being discharged from a bucket into the mould of a bridge segment, as workers use a vibrating rod to make
sure the concrete is well mixed, at the Coninco precast yard.

A worker (right) guiding a concrete bucket over a mould as others wait to begin the casting process at the precast yard

A worker conducting quality checks on a bridge segment at the Coinico yard.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.