Episode #874
#871: S’pore’s Deepest MRT Tunnel & What About Our Nature Reserves? ft. Alvin Sim
What does it take to build Singapore’s rail network deep underground? Alvin Sim, LTA’s Deputy Director of Tunnelling, started his career as a fresh graduate with no tunnelling experience. Today, his work has taken him through granite, marine clay and some of Singapore’s most complex underground conditions, across projects including the Downtown Line and Thomson-East Coast Line. He takes us behind the scenes of tunnelling and shares what it takes to construct the Cross Island Line up to 80-90 metres beneath the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Enjoyed this one? Please to the channel so you don't miss our latest episodes. Every subscriber helps us grow, open doors to new guests, stories, formats or ideas! Haresh: ASUS Oxiis E250G1 Intelligent Bike Booster | ASUS Terence: I Had 21 Hours and a Camera… This Is What I Shot | Matt Weissel Alvin Sim: The Fitness Competition for Every Body | HYROX – " ” https://yahlahbut.short.gy/subscribe Get a roundup of our One Shiok Things & first dibs on our latest launches delivered straight to your inbox! (00:00) Intro (02:41) Telling Random Uncles at CNY You're a Tunneling Engineer (04:04) Tunnels as the "Arteries of the Nation" (05:44) Going 50m Underground to a Cross Island Line Dig Site (07:20) Opening Day at a New MRT Station (08:28) How a Fresh Grad Ended Up Boring Tunnels (11:10) Why the Underground Is Singapore's Next Frontier (12:46) From Rock Caverns to Sewers: What's Down There (14:39) How Deep Can Singapore Actually Go? (15:04) Will Singaporeans Ever Live Underground? (16:29) Why the First MRT Lines Were Built Above Ground (17:15) Can You Feel Tunneling Beneath Your Feet? (19:10) Meet the Mechanical Earthworm (22:03) The Biggest Misconception About Working Underground (23:20) Granite, Limestone and Marine Clay: Singapore's Very Varied Rock (23:47) When the Rock Is So Hard You Need Explosives (27:07) Why Stockholm's Tunnels Look Like an Art Gallery (28:20) 20m a Day in a Dream Project vs Celebrating 3m a Day (30:03) Daily Meetings and Tracking Every Movement Above the Tunnel (31:07) Joining the Tunnel Team With Zero Experience (33:35) The Engineer's DNA: Looking for Problems to Solve (34:48) Noise, Dust and Vibrations: Dealing With Public Feedback (36:13) When Auntie Called Alvin Over About the Vibrations (38:14) 80% of Singaporeans Within 10 Minutes of an MRT by 2030 (39:45) Packing Six Million People Into One Rail Network (41:37) Riding Other Cities' Underground Trains as an "Occupational Hazard" (42:48) 13% of Our Land Is Roads: Getting People to Choose Public Transport (43:35) Moving Infrastructure Underground to Free Up Surface Land (45:17) How LTA's Public Engagement Has Changed Since the Downtown Line (47:56) A Project Information Centre With a Biodiversity Twist (49:45) Tunneling Beneath the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (50:34) Deep Stations, Bencoolen and Bras Basah's Shimmery Glass (51:32) Island Platforms vs Stacked Tunnels (53:09) How Can Regular People Experience Tunneling? (54:39) The New Hires Who Climbed Down the Shaft (55:41) Desk Job Meets Hard Hat: Life Above and Below Ground (58:19) One Shiok Thing (1:11:24) Post-Interview Reflections ᴛɪᴋᴛᴏᴋ https://www.tiktok.com/@yahlahbut ɪɴꜱᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ https://www.instagram.com/yahlahbut ꜰᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ https://www.facebook.com/yahlahbutpod ʀᴇᴅᴅɪᴛ https://www.reddit.com/r/YahLahBut/ ᴛᴇʟᴇɢʀᴀᴍ https://t.me/yahlahbutpodcast ! Drop us an email at contact@ministryoffunny.com ! We’re always looking out for people to do cool stuff with, so let’s chat! Shot on Nikon ZR with NIKKOR Z lenses | https://www.nikon.com.sg @ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
