UNDERGROUND tunnelling works for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line officially began on 1 March 2018, as the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak launched the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) to be used for this project.

The TBM, the first of twelve that will be used for the SSP Line was launched at the Bandar Malaysia North Launching Shaft at Bandar Malaysia.

With the Prime Minister were Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia who is also Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) Chairman Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and MRT Corp Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Sri Shahril Mokhtar.

Other distinguished attendees who attended the event were Transport Minister Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Sri Nancy Shukri, Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and SPAD Chief Executive Officer Encik Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah.

To launch the TBM, the Prime Minister turned a key and pressed a button on a console, triggering a siren as the cutter head of the TBM in the launching shaft nearby began to rotate.

After launching the TBM, the Prime Minister and the VIPs proceeded to view the TBM from the viewing deck at the edge of the launching shaft.

The TBM launched today was a Variable Density TBM which was specifically designed to handle tunnelling through the challenging limestone geological formation in the Klang Valley.

The state-of-the-art TBM was the result of the cooperation between MMC-Gamuda KVMRT (T) Sdn Bhd as the underground works contractor for the MRT SSP Line and world renowned TBM manufacturer Herrenknecht AG of Germany.

Eight of the twelve TBMs were refurbished and used during the tunnelling for the first MRT line the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line. This TBM was also the first ever to undergo refurbishment in Malaysia. Refurbishment works for the TBM was done at a facility called Waiko Engineering Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company, located in Pusing, Perak. In fact, this is the only TBM refurbishment facility in Southeast Asia.

Four of the TBMs were recently purchased from Herrenknecht Tunneling Machinery Co. Ltd, Guangzhou, China. With more TBMs, the risk of a TBM stoppage is reduced. This will also mitigate the impact on potential delays on station construction and the domino effect of such delays.

Besides launching the TBM, Najib also officiated the Bandar Malaysia MRT Information Centre.
This information centre is open to the public and has information boards similar to those located in Seri Kembangan and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. Additional information regarding tunnelling works and TBMs may also be found in this information centre.