The assembly cradle on the HT300 Hydra-Slide skid system.
Solution To Moving A Massive TBM To Location for Singapore Tunnel Project
Yu Sin Engineering Work Pte Ltd skidded a tunnel boring machine underground during a major subway infrastructure project in Singapore during August 2016.
Contractor Yu Sin Engineering Work Pte Ltd from Singapore sought a solution to move the boring machine parts over a distance of approximately 66 ft (20 m) and connect them in the launch shaft. The machine could not be lowered directly onto its working path because of a major road over the tunnel entry point and other structural interferences.
Having discovered Canada-based Hydra-Slide online, Yu Sin was convinced that this was the right equipment for the job. Given the project time constraints, the 23,000 lb (10,500 kg) HT300 system travelled by cargo plane and then by truck to the jobsite.
Shipments of this kind would more commonly travel by ocean with a transit time of about 45 days.
A component approaches the entrance of the 100ft (30m) shaft.
In addition, Ekki hardwood jacking timbers supplied by Hydra-Slide were also air freighted directly from the mill in Holland to Singapore.
The components of the tunnel borer were lowered down the 100 ft (30 m) shaft onto a Hydra-Slide HT300 hydraulically powered skidding system by a Terex AC700 crane at ground level.
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