BENTONG: By March, tunnel boring machines (TBM) are expected to begin excavation for the East Coast Rail Link's (ECRL) twin-bore Genting Tunnel.
The two TBMs, reputed to be the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, will carve out access through the Titiwangsa range to connect Bentong with Gombak.
Revealing this, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said it would take three years for the tunnel work to be fully completed.
"This is the period to facilitate the TBM's three main tasks to be undertaken – tunnel excavation, removal of excavation waste to the surface and installation of concrete walls in the tunnel.
"Workers have to first manually dig out 131m before another 50m are to be excavated, prior to the TBM deployment for tunneling works, probably by March," he said after visiting the construction site of the two tunnels near Bentong.
Present was Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, who is also chief secretary to the government.
Wee said the TBM each has a maximum digging capacity of 700m per month at the 16.39km twin-bore Genting Tunnel.
The TBM cutter heads from China that are 25m long and have an excavation diameter of almost 9m are equipped with four torque cylinders and weigh 900 tonnes each.
The TBM cutter head, with gantry support structure, weighs 1,600 tonnes and is 266m long – enabling it to construct the longest rail tunnel in Southeast Asia.
The TBMs are manufactured by the China Communications Constructions Company (CCCC) Tianhe Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd in Shanghai and are custom made for use in hard rock conditions.
They were dismantled in 286 packages and shipped from Shanghai Port to Port Klang in July last year.
Commending the CCCC officials for their professionalism and knowledge, Wee said they had vast experience in handling TBM work.
The 665km-long ECRL, launched in 2017 and scheduled for completion by 2026, will traverse the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang through to the Klang Valley.
On another note, Wee said that his ministry had obtained approval for the ECRL's C2 stretch (Gombak-Serendah-Puncak Alam-Port Klang) to begin physical construction by the first quarter of this year.
"This follows the collection of public feedback upon successful completion of the environmental, social and heritage impact assessments towards the end of last year.
"MRL subsequently forwarded the approvals to the Land Public Transport Agency which gave its support for submission to my ministry, earlier this week," he said.
He added that from the 12,797 respondents involved in the public feedback, a total of 12,652 (or 98.87 per cent) supported the ECRL's improved alignment through Section C2 in Selangor.
The negligible percentage of those who opposed the stretch, he said, was owing to the ECRL passing through their housing and land properties.
Nevertheless, Dr Wee said that he and Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari had announced the state government's approval of the stretch.
"The Selangor government's approval will definitely ease the implementation of engineering, purchasing, construction and commissioning tasks to be undertaken.
"Until December last year, the ECRL has progressed 26.49 per cent, mainly construction works carried out through Section A (Kota Baru-Dungun) and Section B (Dungun-Mentakab)," he said.
The ECRL project included land clearing, tunneling, constructing bridges and strengthening prefabricated vertical drains at over 168 locations last year.
Meanwhile, Zuki said the Genting Tunnel construction spanned over 7ha and involved nearly 200 workers, while 85 per cent of the TBM had been assembled.
MRL, he said, was optimistic about the high-technology TBM in carrying out geological and engineering excavation, thus, doing away with the previous method of blasting and drilling through the mountain.