쌍용건설

Singapore chooses Ssangyong for construction techniques even with the high biding price
Not a single accident happened throughout the 66 months long construction

Low oil price somewhat dragged overseas contract for Korean companies last year, but it was not enough to stop Korea breaking 700 billion dollar line of annual export. It can be considered as a splendid achievement in the 50th anniversary of Korean export. Especially, markets in the South-eastern countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, and Cambodia are considered an emerging markets that Korean companies are turning their attention from Middle East. Financial News will be constantly reporting Korean construction companies who are broadening their horizon in the field of SOC (social overhead capital) and Plant Industry market.

[Singapore-reporter Kim Sung Hwan] Ssangyong E&C is a leading company in the field of advanced construction market in Asia-Pacific region. It is well-known for the construction of Grand Hyatt and Jumeirah Emirate Towers Hotel in Dubai. In Singapore, the company is famous for building one of the major tourist attraction, Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Ssangyong E&C surprised the construction field by completely renovating the Raffles Hotel without any drawings.

Recently, Ssan Yong E&C is working on a high-tech subway line construction in Singapore. The company won the bid for this project from Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) in June of 2009. The project required the construction of 2nd stage of Down Town Line (DTL) C921 sector. Winning the bid for this project was meaningful for Ssangyong because even for higher bidding price, the company was chosen for its construction techniques and expertise.

* Singapore government chooses construction techniques over price

The construction sector, which is about 90% in completion now, is a connection between Little India station and Rochor station. Total construction length is about 1 kilometers including the construction of Little India station and Rochor station. The length of the sector itself is not a long one, however, it is considered an extremely difficult construction since the construction had to be done 5 meters below the current subway line.

Little India station will have one more platform with two more entrances once the construction is finished. This additional station will have vertical shaped wall finish that runs down from the ceiling which took its pattern from India's traditional clothing 'Sari'.

Sector C921 was a hot topic within the construction field for the difficulties that resided. There were roads and canals on the upper ground that were laying problems to be solved such as safety and cost. Fierce competition in the tender almost caused Ssangyong E&C to lose the bid since it came third in the price comparison. Surprisingly, the client chose Ssangyong for its construction techniques as well as reliability.

Despite the short stretch of the construction sector, real difficulties lied within the 10 lane road and 25 meter wide canal on the ground above. Unlike construction situations in Korea, Singapore government does not allow the roads to be temporarily shut off for the convenience of the construction. Policies regarding transportation of the Singapore government is among the best in the world. They even put restrictions to the number of registered cars because of smaller land area which is about 1.11 times smaller compared to that of Seoul. These strict regulations force the construction companies to make detours as soon as the construction begins and to put the roads to its original position again once the construction of the relevant sector is completed.

50 detour construction for roads including canal detour for the main construction

All three of the major subway construction techniques (NATM, TBM, Open-Cut) had to be used for this short sector of 1 kilometers, and the roads above had to be shifted 50 times for the construction procedure. Nevertheless, the canal was one big problem to solve.

Ssangyong E&C's solution for this was to move the canal to underground permanently to gain enough space for the detours for the roads above.
The biding price of Ssangyong for the construction of sector C921 was 833 million dollars, which was about double the amount of other sectors of the similar length. Rumor is that some competing companies wanted to know the secret tactic for winning the bidding and asked Ssangyong in private.

"Normally, for a subway construction sector of 1~2 kilometers is usually priced for about 300~400 million dollars. However, it was certainly a challenge for us both technically and financially to write out 800 million dollar line for the bid. We looked very deep into this project to find reasonable and efficient solutions, I guess this grabbed client's attention and allowed them to choose us over other competitors", said Construction Manager Woo Sang Kim.

Killing two birds with one stone, construction techniques as well as safety

Construction techniques alone were not the only reason why Ssangyong earned the trust from the client. Safety was also a very big factor that Ssangyong took into account.

What is impressive about it is that during the 66 months long construction, not a single accident happened and LTA issued out 15 million man hour Injury Record to the company. This record is only possible when 100 workers who work 8 hours per day work for 51 years (18,750 days) without any accident.

This is considered a huge record considering the fact that no other major companies, both domestic and international, have ever achieved. Singapore's subway construction injury record was about 7 million man hour.

Maximum number of workers who were working at the same time reached 1200, and those workers were from 16 different countries including Germany, Australia, China, India, Bangladesh, and Philippines. Worker with diverse language and backgrounds worked together in 2 shifts, 24 hours a day.

Also, 50 heavy equipments, including Shield Machine and 300t crane, were involved for the project.

Until today, Ssangyong E&C has won 13 safety related awards including LTA's Safety Champion award of 2013 beating all the competitors in the construction field. 17 million man hour injury record is expected by the completion of the construction in March of 2016.