civil & structural engineering - Institution of Engineers Singapore

The Magazine Of 

The Institution Of Engineers, Singapore 

FEBRUARY 2013 MCI (P) 051/02/2013 

THE 

www.ies.org.sg 

SINGAPORE ENGINEER 

COVER STORY: 

CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 

Cliveden at Grange 

FEATURES: 

Health & Safety Engineering • Project Application • Sustainability

CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

12 CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: Cover Story: 


The residential project received recognition also for its emphasis on design and 

engineering safety. 

16 INTERVIEW: 

SIT moves ahead with broadened portfolio and higher student intake 

Singapore Institute of Technology is proactively responding to the challenges and 

opportunities in tertiary education. 

18 HEALTH & SAFETY ENGINEERING: 

Ergonomics at the construction sites 

Poor working conditions could lead to serious problems for workers over time. 

30 HEALTH & SAFETY ENGINEERING: 

Proper fi tting of hearing protection devices 

There is a need to eliminate problems for workers due to excessive noise. 

32 PROJECT APPLICATION: 

Two Liebherr internal climbing tower cranes build designer 

homes in India 

The machines performed well in spite of the site constraints. 


The expansion of Panama Canal 

Mapei is supplying high performance admixtures for the production of concrete 

required for this major construction project. 


Potain and Grove cranes work at the Panama Canal 

Lifting and installation duties are being carried out round-the-clock. 

40 SUSTAINABILITY: 

Global phosphorus and the case for phosphorus recovery 

The depletion of this important resource is cause for worry. 

REGULAR SECTIONS 

02 IES UPDATE 

Chief Editor 

T Bhaskaran 

t_b_n8@yahoo.com 

Director, Marketing 

Roland Ang 

roland@iesnet.org.sg 

Marketing & Publications Executive 

Jeremy Chia 

jeremy@iesnet.org.sg 

CEO 

Angie Ng 

angie@iesnet.org.sg 

Publications Manager 

Desmond Teo 

desmond@iesnet.org.sg 

Published by 

The Institution Of Engineers, Singapore 

70 Bukit Tinggi Road 

Singapore 289758 

Tel: 6469 5000 Fax: 6467 1108 

Cover designed by Irin Kuah 

Cover image by City Developments Limited. 

The Singapore Engineer is published 

monthly by The Institution of Engineers, 

Singapore (IES). The publication is 

distributed free-of-charge to IES members 

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39 PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS 

44 NEWS 

February 2013 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 

01

IES UPDATE 

Message from the President 

On the morning of 16 January 2013, a helicopter 

crashed in Vauxhall, in London, UK, after it hit a crane 

on top of a high-rise tower under construction. 

The helicopter fell onto the road, hitting several 

vehicles and bursting into fl ames. Two people died 

in the accident - the pilot of the helicopter and a 

pedestrian. Around 12 or 13 people were injured. 

Some of them were treated on the spot and some 

were taken to hospital. 

The accident shows that construction activities can pose a hazard to other occupations 

and to the general public. 

In order to eliminate such tragedies, it is essential to improve the quality of safetyrelated 

information on projects at all times, and the effectiveness in communicating 

that information to all relevant parties. 

This should be possible, considering the tremendous progress being made in digital 

capture and communication of information, in real-time. These techniques can be 

optimised and made cost-effective, and with the necessary regulatory initiatives and 

coordination and collaboration among various sectors of government and industry, 

they can be applied. 

At the same time, great importance is given to design and engineering safety in the 

implementation of construction projects. This should reduce on-site accidents such as 

those involving workers and heavy objects falling from heights, as well as the toppling 

of large construction equipment. 

The challenge to ensure safety in construction is even greater today because of 

the size and complexity of projects, the increased volume of work and the shorter 

completion times allotted, all set against a target of zero incidents and accidents. 

To attain this objective, engineers will have to play their part, along with other 

stakeholders. 

Prof Chou Siaw Kiang 

President 

The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) 

IES COUNCIL MEMBERS 

2012/2013 

President 

Prof Chou Siaw Kiang 

Vice Presidents 

Er. Chong Kee Sen 

Er. Edwin Khew 

Dr Kwok Wai Onn, Richard 

Mr Neo Kok Beng 

Er. Ong Geok Soo 

Er. Ong See Ho 

Honorary Secretary 

Dr Boh Jaw Woei 

Honorary Treasurer 

Mr Kang Choon Seng 

Assistant Honorary Secretary 

Er. Koh Beng Thong 

Assistant Honorary Treasurer 

Er. Seow Kang Seng 

Immediate Past President 

Er. Ho Siong Hin 

Past Presidents 

Er. Dr Lee Bee Wah 

Er. Tan Seng Chuan 

Honorary Council Member 

Er. Ong Ser Huan 

Council Members 

Prof Chau Fook Siong 

Er. Dr Chew Soon Hoe 

Ms Fam Meiling 

Er. Dr Ho Kwong Meng 

Dr Ho Teck Tuak 

Mr Lee Kwok Weng 

Mr Lim Horng Leong 

Mr Ng Sing Chan 

Mr Oh Boon Chye, Jason 

Er. Tan Shu Min, Emily 

Mr Tan Boon Leng, Mark 

Er. Toh Siaw Hui, Joseph 

Er. Wong Fee Min, Alfred 

Dr Zhou Yi 

02 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER February 2013

IES UPDATE 

IES 12 th CTO Forum generates new 

innovative ideas 

Proudly organised by IES and National University of Singapore 

(NUS), the 12 th CTO Forum was eagerly anticipated by the 

CTOs who were in attendance. Nearly 20 specially invited CTO 

members attended the Forum, which was held on 28 January 

2013, at the National Library Board building. 

The speaker for the evening was Dr Yves Pigneur from NUS, 

who presented the topic ‘Business Model Innovation and 

Design’. The presentation engendered discussion among the 

CTOs regarding the different segments of business innovations. 

A free fl owing Q&A session followed, where Dr Pigneur fi elded 

questions from the business leaders. 

The presentation was then followed by a networking dinner, 

where the attendees mingled and interacted with each other. 

Dr Yves Pigneur delivered his presentation on ‘Business Model Innovation and 

Design’ at the 12 th CTO Forum. 

Courtesy Visit by delegation from China 

Association for Science & Technology 

Group photo taken with CAST Executive Secretary Mr Shen Aimin (6 th from 

right) and IES President Prof Chou Siaw Kiang (7 th from right). 

IES warmly welcomed a delegation from the China Association 

for Science & Technology (CAST) to its premises on 25 January 

2013 as part of a technical visit and to promote closer bilateral 

relationship between the two associations. The delegation was 

led by Mr Shen Aimin, Executive Secretary of CAST. 

The CAST representatives were received by IES President Prof 

Chou Siaw Kiang, IES Vice President Er. Ong See Ho, IES Past 

Presidents Er. Tan Seng Chuan and Er. Dr Lock Kai Sang, IES 

CEO Ms Angie Ng and Member of WES 2013 Ambassadorial 

Committee, Er. Chong Chin Hin. 

Both sides gave an update on their organisations’ respective 

activities for 2012. CAST revealed that it is actively looking at raising 

the quality of engineering education in China. It is also in the process 

of applying for accreditation under the Washington Accord. 

IES also informed CAST of its new annex building plans and 

the organisation of the inaugural World Engineers’ Summit 

(WES) in September this year. Prof Chou and the WES Steering 

Committee Chairman, Er. Tan Seng Chuan, extended an invitation 

to CAST to take part in the event. 

The meeting ended with an exchange of tokens between the 

two organisations. 

IES wishes to extend its thanks to all who have donated or 

pledged an amount to the IES Building Redevelopment fund 

thus far. 

The construction of the new IES Annex Building is well underway 

after the ground breaking last December. The state-of-the-art 

building will be an iconic showpiece of engineering effort that 

will feature advanced green and sustainable features. 

We are still seeking donations and pledges from our members 

and the engineering fraternity to realize this new building as the 

‘Home of Engineers’. For those who are keen to donate/pledge, 

please email Siew Keow at siewkeow@iesnet.org.sg. 

For those who have already pledged their donation, we would 

appreciate it if you could mail your cheque to IES as soon as 

possible so as to help us get to our targeted goal. Please make a 

crossed cheque payable to “IES Building Fund” and indicate your 

name/company name behind the cheque. 

If you wish to help out in another way, we also have 2013 IES 

table calendars on sale for $10, the proceeds of which will go 

towards the Fund as well. 

Your kind support is greatly appreciated. 

Artist’s impression of the new IES Annex Building. 

04 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER February 2013 

Discover ‘Innovative and Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change’ at WES 2013! 

For more information, visit http://www.wes2013.org


05

IES UPDATE 

BETC Symposium 2013 – Engineering In 

Medical Devices 

IES kicked off the year 2013 with the inaugural Biomedical 

Engineering Technical Committee (BETC) Symposium 2013 – 

Engineering in Medical Devices. Themed ‘Engineer Your Mind 

Towards Excellence’, this year’s event was held at the auditorium 

of TÜV SÜD PSB Singapore Pte Ltd on 11 and 12 January. 

The two-day event was attended by about 100 participants, 

including representatives from the government, industry and 

hospitals, IES members, students from junior colleges and 

tertiary institutions, patients and members of the public. 

The Guest-of-Honour at the opening ceremony was Dr Lam 

Pin Min from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Member of 

Parliament for Sengkang West SMC in the Ang Mo Kio GRC, 

and Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee 

for Health. Later in the afternoon, Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, 

Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education and 

Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, gave a moving 

speech, as a Special Observer, about the need to develop better 

medical devices for handicapped adults and children. 

Guest-of-Honour Dr Lam Pin Min (fourth from left) with Dr Ho Teck Tuak 

(fi fth from left), Chairman of BETC, and other members of the welcome entourage. 

A/Prof Daniel Lim presenting his keynote speech. 

Ms Susan Ng, symposium emcee, welcoming delegates. 

Prof Ruys Andrew presenting his keynote speech. 

Delegates at the Opening Ceremony. 

Dr Ho presenting a token of appreciation to Dr Lam. 


IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering Vol 6 is out now! 

For more information or to subscribe, call 6469 5000.


07

IES UPDATE 

At the symposium, two keynote speakers and twelve plenary 

speakers from key players in the medical device industry including 

the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), 

the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), IES, Nanyang Technological 

University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), 

Stryker Singapore, TÜV SÜD PSB Singapore, University of 

Sydney (Australia), WongPartnership, and 3M Singapore 

presented on a variety of topics on the latest issues, challenges 

and solutions in medical device technology. Apart from the 

symposium, attendees got a rare opportunity to participate in 

site visits to TÜV SÜD PSB secured laboratories. 

The symposium was supported by the Singapore Medical 

Association, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and 

sponsored by ANSYS (The Finite Element Method Solution), 

and TÜV SÜD PSB Singapore. 

Besides being treated to healthy and sumptuous lunches and 

tea breaks featuring local delights, participants also received 

goodie bags jointly sponsored by TÜV SÜD PSB Singapore, 

WongPartnership and IES as well as symposium booklets as 

mementoes. 

The BETC Committee welcomes everyone to the next BETC 

event which will take place in the near future. 

Dr Ho showing Dr Intan products of the Finite Element Method at the 

ANSYS exhibition booth 

Dr Ho presenting a token of appreciation to Dr Intan. 

Talk on Singapore BIM Guide and BCA 

BIM Funding 

On 22 January 2013, at the IES Auditorium, the IES Environment 

Engineering Technical Committee Chairman, Er. Alfred Wong, 

brought together three speakers from different industries to share 

their experiences in using Building Information Modelling (BIM). 

One hundred participants from various industries attended the 

evening talk to fi nd out more about the Singapore BIM Guide 

and BIM funding from Mr Sonny Andalis, a technical consultant 

and BIM specialist from the BCA Centre for Construction IT 

(CCIT). Ms Christina Koh, Technical Director from Beca Carter 

Hollings & Ferner, talked about the pros and cons of using BIM 

in Civil & Structural Engineering projects in Singapore while the 

representative from CPG Consultants, Mr Tan Guoyi, a Senior 

Architectural Associate, explained how BIM was implemented 

at the new SAFRA Toa Payoh Clubhouse. 

The Singapore BIM Guide, a reference that outlines the roles 

and responsibilities of project members at different stages of 

a project, is available at http://www.corenet.gov.sg/integrated_ 

submission/bim/BIM_Guide.htm 

From left, Ms Christina Koh from Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner, Mr Sonny 

Andalis from BCA, Q&A panel moderator Er. Tsang Pui Sum, Mr Tan Guoyi 

from CPGConsultants, and IES Environmental Engineering Technical Committee 

Chairman Er. Alfred Wong. 

After the talk, Er. Ong Ser Huan gave out Tokens of Appreciation to the speakers. 






11

COVER STORY 


At BCA AWARDS 2012, the project received a Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Award. 

It also won a Construction Productivity Award (Platinum) and a Universal Design Award (Silver). 

INTRODUCTION 

The BCA Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Awards 

were instituted as part of the efforts by BCA (Building and 

Construction Authority) to ensure high safety standards in the 

built environment and inculcate a strong safety culture in the 

building industry. The Award gives recognition to the efforts 

taken by the Qualifi ed Person for Structural Works [QP (ST)], 

his or her fi rm and the project team, for ingenious design 

processes and solutions for overcoming project challenges and 

ensuring safety in the design, construction, and maintenance, of 

building and civil engineering projects, in Singapore and overseas. 

Through this Award, BCA hopes to encourage industry 

professionals to make a more concerted effort to create a safe 

built environment for all. 

The assessment criteria cover two key aspects - safety in design, 

and safety in construction. 

Project overview 

Cliveden at Grange is nestled in a high-class residential area 

along Grange Road in the downtown district. Located on a 

12,857.4 m 2 site, the development consists of four tower blocks, 

24-storey high, with 110 units including three-bedroom, fourbedroom 

and penthouse units; as well as a basement carpark, 

and a swimming pool and communal facilities on the 1 st storey. 

The project was implemented over a period of 42 months. 

Three of the blocks are single tower blocks and are similar in 

layout, with the staircase and lift core walls in each of them 

located at the side of the building, while the fourth block is 

a twin tower block with its staircase and lift core walls at the 

centre of the building. The buildings are unique, with conical 

staircases, circular lift cores and curved external walls. This 

made it a challenge in terms of design and construction. 

Innovative solutions and features adopted to overcome the 

challenges in this project include the use of the jack-in piling 

system, precast structures including curved walls, prefabricated 

toilets, steel mullions and up-stand drop panels. 

Design processes and solutions that emphasise safety 

The site on which Cliveden at Grange stands is in front of a 

row of landed properties. There is also a 3.1 m wide drain 

culvert cutting across the development. 

The jack-in piling system was adopted as it is environmentfriendly 

and ensures good on-site working conditions. Jack-in 

piling eliminates vibration and reduces dust and noise to the 

surrounding environment, which was important especially since 

the site is surrounded by both high-rise and landed housing. 

Cutting across the site is a 6.1 m drainage reserve that requires 

a 3 m headroom clearance above it. To make sure this is met, a 

fl at slab post-tensioning system with up-stand drop panels was 

provided. The up-stand drop panels also served to increase the 

buildability of the 1 st storey slab. 

Artist’s impression of Cliveden at Grange. 

Jack-in piling in progress. 


COVER STORY 

Up-stand drop panels 

Section across the drainage reserve. 

If the structures were cast in-situ, they would have required 

precise construction as well as a lot of external scaffolding, 

because of the circular layouts, the conical shapes of the lift 

cores, and staircase cores with curved external walls. Instead, 

by adopting precast construction, it was possible to greatly 

reduce the number of external scaffolds and thereby provide 

a safer working environment. In addition, the project became 

more buildable and a better quality of work was achieved. Also, 

rectifi cations could be done prior to installation. 

The use of precast structural walls, along with the use of precast 

fi n walls and curved beams for the roofs, made it possible to 

avoid in-situ casting for the higher fl oors. 

No need 

external 

Scaffold 

Precast wall 

Splice at 

1m above 

fl oor level 

The column splices do not undermine the load-carrying capacity of the columns 

and did not require workers to weld from height. 

Quality approach in design, details and specification 

A comprehensive design and analysis regime was introduced 

with the help of various software such as the 3D analysis 

software Orion, S-FRAME and ETABS. In addition to performing 

standard structural design in accordance with the code of 

practice, further verifi cation and checks were also done, on 

the robustness and performance of the structures, which also 

took into account the constructability. The design of many key 

elements of the buildings was also evaluated. This included the 

design of curved transfer beams which transfer the building 

load and that of the household shelters to circular columns at 

the 2 nd storey, and the design of the steel mullions. 

Front view of a single tower block. 

Precast 

curved beam 

for the roof 

Lifting of a curved precast beam. 

Steel mullions were also introduced in this development in lieu 

of reinforced concrete columns. The required column size was 

thus smaller, which was in line with the architect’s intent. The 

steel mullion section was formed from a 150 mm thick steel 

plate and to make the construction more buildable, the design 

considered the details and location of the column splice such 

that it would not undermine the column’s load-carrying capacity 

and would not require workers to weld from height. 

3D analysis software was used in the project design. 

In order to achieve the design intent, the required shop drawings 

were checked especially with respect to the joints. It was also 

possible to ensure quality, since the precast structures could be 

inspected prior to installation. In addition, coordination of M&E 

services would have been considered, prior to casting of the 

precast structures. It was also easier for the Resident Engineer to 

ensure quality, since the precast yard was at the site. 

Material specifi cations for the steel mullions strictly complied 

with test requirements. 

Design for safe operation and maintenance 

With the use of precast elements which could be inspected off- 


13

COVER STORY 

site, inspection and coordination work were made easier. Also, 

rectifi cation works could be done prior to installation, thereby 

contributing to safer operation. In addition, in-situ casting, 

especially for external walls, was avoided and external formwork 

and scaffolding were not required, thereby providing a safer 

work environment without the risk of scaffold overloading and 

working from height. 

Cast off-site, prefabricated toilets are well-coordinated and offer 

better quality and greater durability. 

early stage of construction, there was suffi cient lead time for 

procurement and preparation. 

Public safety considerations 

Construction of Cliveden at Grange, by conventional means, 

would have caused disturbance to neighbouring developments. 

However, the design adopted measures and approaches to 

make sure that the impact would be minimised. Due to the use 

of jack-in piling, noise and vibrations were greatly reduced. 

Prior to the start of work on Cliveden at Grange, contractors 

informed the owners and occupants of neighbouring 

developments of the work schedule, provided key contact 

numbers and briefed them about the main disturbances like 

vibration and noise. The dust and noise levels at the construction 

site were monitored every month, particularly to make sure 

that machinery noise levels were within limits. In addition, the 

Resident Engineer constantly highlighted and reported any 

substandard practice, so that all activities on site were safe. 

Installation of prefabricated toilets on-site. 

Construction quality and safe construction processes 

The site was managed effi ciently with safety as a main concern 

and with active participation from the Resident Engineer and 

Site Engineers. Bi-weekly reports by the Resident Engineer, that 

monitored the quality and site safety, in addition to structural 

works, ensured smooth and safe construction. The presence of a 

precast yard on-site enabled better supervision and monitoring 

and thereby facilitated good quality control. 

Approval of shop drawings for the precast structures, prior 

to construction, ensured that all joints are workable and in 

accordance with the design, thereby contributing to speedier 

construction and fewer site issues. The use of prefabricated toilets 

contributed to higher quality assurance and increased buildability. 

Approval of the concrete body plan, prior to construction, 

resulted in higher accuracy and better coordination, resulting in 

fewer abortive works and minimum wastage. 

The test requirements to determine the quality of steel mullions, 

which are a key element, ensured that the design intent was 

achieved. Since these requirements were specifi ed at an 

PROJECT CREDITS 

Qualified Person 

Er. Lauw Su Wee 

C&S Consultants 

LSW Consulting Engineers Pte Ltd 

Builder 

Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd 

Developer 

City Developments Limited 

Architectural Consultants 

ADDP Architects LLP 

Activities at the precast yard. 


INTERVIEW 

SIT moves ahead with broadened portfolio and 

higher student intake 

Prof Tan Thiam Soon, President, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), highlights some of 

SIT’s initiatives and achievements recorded last year and explains how the institution is 

addressing the challenge to produce value-added, work-ready graduates. 

Question: How would you 

summarise the activities of SIT 

in 2012? What are some of the 

highlights of last year, especially in 

terms of new programmes, student 

enrolment, facilities, scholarships 

and sponsorships, and employment 

opportunities? 

Firstly, I would like to mention that 

Prof Tan Thiam Soon. 

in partnership with universities 

in the UK, USA and Ireland, SIT launched seven new degree 

programmes last year. They are: 

• Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Aeronautical 

Engineering, and Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in 

Aerospace Systems, from University of Glasgow, UK. 

• Bachelor in Science (Physiotherapy), and Bachelor in 

Science (Occupational Therapy), awarded by Trinity College 

Dublin, Ireland. 

• Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Communication Design, 

and Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Interior Design, from 

The Glasgow School of Art, UK. 

• Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education, awarded 

by Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 

We were also able to increase our total student intake for 

all our academic programmes, which now total 26, from 

950 to 1,300. 

A particular highlight during the year was the unveiling of 

the designs of the satellite campuses in April 2012 and the 

subsequent ground-breaking ceremonies held at each of the 

polytechnics, between July 2012 and January 2013. 

We are also happy to state that the fi rst batch of students 

from Newcastle University’s Marine / Offshore Engineering 

programmes graduated in 2012, and that 92% of them have 

already secured jobs - mostly in related fi elds. Ten percent of 

these graduates received company sponsorships / scholarships 

during their course. 

Q: What are some of the specifi c programmes and activities 

in SIT, in 2013, that you would like to mention? 

A: SIT is offering two new degree programmes for Academic 

Year 2013. One leads to the degree of Bachelor of Engineering 

with Honours in Electrical Power Engineering, conferred by 

the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, while the other is 

the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honours in Computing 

Science, from the University of Glasgow. 

Further, SIT is preparing to transit into an autonomous university, 

offering SIT’s own degree programmes. The key feature of the 

SIT degree programmes will be the integrated work-study 

programme which will require students to alternate study 

semesters with work attachments. Through this programme, 

SIT hopes to instill the SIT-DNA in every student, making them 

adaptable and capable of ‘learning, unlearning and relearning’. 

The fi rst batch of students from Newcastle University’s marine / offshore 

engineering programmes graduated in 2012. 

The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. 


INTERVIEW 

SIT is also considering the possibility of extending the 

existing two-year programmes to three or even four years. 

The lengthening of the course period will allow SIT to take 

in students from non-articulating diplomas, who would then 

acquire the required knowledge content. SIT would also be 

able to impart the soft skills that students need for their 

chosen careers. 

Q: Could you elaborate on the SIT-DNA and on ‘learning, 

unlearning and relearning’? 

A: Many higher education institutions are looking to ensure 

they educate their students to be relevant and effective in a 

world in which change is occurring at an increasing pace and 

industries will need to evolve and change constantly. 

The work-study model, devised by SIT, encourages students 

to take up meaningful work stints as part of their university 

education. 

The SIT-DNA will enable its graduates to be able to boldly 

embrace change and to be adaptable. We also want our 

graduates to be thinking tinkerers - people who are hands-on, 

resourceful and practical. 

The importance of learning, unlearning and relearning becomes 

clear when we realise that with improving healthcare, most of 

us will work for some 40 plus years - nearly three times longer 

than the duration of our formal education. 

So for those who want to succeed, they must be able to deal 

with disruption. They will need to know how to learn, unlearn 

and relearn, while working. 

Unlearning has to do with mindsets and attitudes. It is about 

accepting that something you have learnt is no longer useful or 

applicable, showing the willingness to accept reality and then 

having the courage and fortitude to adapt and change. This can 

apply to technical know-how that has become obsolete, or 

even when a company has to relocate in order to survive or 

take advantage of new business opportunities. 

After unlearning comes learning and relearning. We constantly 

add new skills during our lifetime. As industry, processes and 

technology change and evolve, the question is whether or not 

our graduates are imbued with the right mindset to adapt to 

this new future. 

A key feature of the SIT pedagogy, moving forward, will be 

to ingrain into each and every one of our students that life is 

going to be about learning on the job, from the job and during 

the job. 

Q: From an overall perspective, in an uncertain world 

economic situation, what are some of the challenges 

faced by institutions of higher learning and how is SIT 

addressing them? 

A: Challenges faced by institutions of higher learning include 

having to meet the needs of the domestic economy against 

an ever-changing world economic situation. As one such 

institution, SIT will need to remain nimble and fl exible in terms 

of programme offerings and, at the same time, be able to train 

students to willingly embrace change and be adaptable. 

In order to address these challenges, SIT will not have the 

traditional faculty/school structures but will create multi-varied 

skills clusters to encourage cross-fertilisation. 

Our programmes will build on the skills and hands-on 

orientation of the polytechnic graduates, so that they become 

‘thinking doers’. Also, with our industry-driven programmes, 

we hope to ensure that SIT graduates have the skills necessary 

for the future. 

Another challenge is that since industries expect graduates 

to be work-ready, there is therefore a need for a different 

programme structure to create value-added graduates. 

The University of Glasgow, UK. 

Accordingly, SIT will be working closely with industries to 

shape the teaching pedagogy via integrated work-study 

learning, project-oriented learning, IT-enhanced self-learning, 

and integrated global learning environments. 


17

HEALTH & SAFETY ENGINEERING 

Ergonomics at the construction sites 

by Dr N Krishnamurthy, Safety Consultant and Trainer, Singapore 

The right working conditions should be created, in order to prevent workers from suffering 

pain and injury. 

INTRODUCTION 

Most fatalities and injuries at construction 

sites can be traced to the worker not 

working in a safe position, using the wrong 

tool for the job, or using the right tool 

the wrong way. Workers are provided 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 

of various types for different hazardous Dr N Krishnamurthy 

tasks, but inadequate understanding and unsafe conditions result 

in workers adopting wrong work postures. The article discusses 

the contributing factors to workplace ergonomic problems in 

relation to Singapore’s Workplace Safety and Health Act of 2006; 

identifi cation, assessment and management of Work-related 

Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (WMSDs); the benefi ts of a proactive 

approach to ergonomics planning; and feasible solutions. 

Examples and case studies of ergonomic improvements in 

construction engineering, and safety gear are presented. The 

focus is on construction workplace ergonomic issues such as 

manual handling, and consequences of PPE misuse. 

ERGONOMICS 

The word ‘ergonomics’ is derived from two Greek words - 

‘ergon’, meaning work, and ‘nomos’, meaning natural laws. 

Today, the word is used to describe the science of ‘designing 

the job to fi t the worker, not forcing the worker to fi t the job 

- thus the science of adapting work and working conditions 

to suit the worker’, according to Rwamamara and Smallwood 

(Ref 1), whose comments on ergonomic problems and solution 

recommendations in industrially developing countries are cited 

frequently in this article. 

Employees’ abilities to perform physical tasks may depend on age, 

physical condition, strength, gender, stature etc. The science of 

ergonomics examines how to improve the fi t between physical 

demands of the workplace and employees who perform the 

work, or in other words, how to protect the workers from strain. 

Effective and successful fi tting of the workplace conditions to the 

capabilities of the workforce assures high productivity, avoidance 

of illness and injury risks, and increased satisfaction among the 

workforce. Although the scope of ergonomics is much broader, 

the term here refers to assessing those work-related factors 

that may pose a risk of Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (MSDs) and 

recommendations to alleviate them. 

Common examples of ergonomic risk factors are found in 

jobs requiring repetitive, forceful, or prolonged exertions of 

the hands; frequent or heavy lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying 

of heavy objects; and prolonged awkward postures. Vibration 

and excessive heat or cold may also add risk to these work 

conditions. The level of risk depends on the intensity, frequency, 

and duration of the exposure to these conditions. 

Ergonomic problems may also be culture- and technologyrelated. 

For instance, repetitive movements are more likely in a 

country which makes predominant use of masonry materials for 

walls, than in a country that makes use of prefabricated framing 

and panels such as the USA, and recently Singapore. Climbing 

and descending are more likely problems in a country which 

makes limited use, if any, of vertical transportation of people 

with the help of personnel hoists, than in a country that does. 

Presently, squatting on the fl oor or ground for many hours may 

not be a problem in many Asian countries, but modern youth 

may not retain such habits for long. 

CONSTRUCTION ERGONOMICS 

Construction, by its very nature, is a problem for ergonomists, 

as it requires work above shoulder level and below knee height. 

Materials may also be heavy and/or inconveniently sized and 

shaped, thus presenting manual material handling problems. 

Numerous construction tasks pose signifi cant risks to workers. 

To eliminate or mitigate the risks, it would be necessary to 

identify work risks in construction and assess the impact of even 

minimal ergonomics on the construction process. 

The most important safety-, health-, and ergonomics- related 

problems involving construction tools, leading to construction 

accidents, have been identifi ed as follows: 

• Manual handling, lifting, and carrying 

• Tripping and falling 

• Noise 

• Vibration 

• Dust exposure 

• Poor design of tool interfaces 

Of the job factors which caused major ergonomics-related 

problems, the following were assessed in a 2003 US study, to 

be the top four: 

• Bending or twisting the back 

• Staying in the same position for long periods 

• Working in the same position for long periods 

• Handling heavy materials or equipment 

Certain problems peculiar to Asian (and certain African nations) 

may be highlighted, in addition to bending and twisting of the body: 

• Reaching away from the body and reaching overhead 

• Working in awkward positions 

• Lifting and manually handling heavy and irregularly sized and 

shaped materials and components 



• Working below knee level 

• Working while kneeling 

A study of non-traumatic injuries in India indicated the 

predominance of repetitive movements, followed by awkward 

postures, heavy lifting, and lack of breaks. 

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM 

According to Wellsphere (Ref 2), Dr J D Miller, retired Director of 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 

USA, said “that by any epidemiological criteria, occupational 

musculo-skeletal injures represent a pandemic problem in the 

United States with gigantic effects on the quality of millions of 

peoples’ lives every year”. 

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that MSDs amounted 

to 56% of all occupational illnesses in 1991 and continued 

to increase. Though cost estimates vary greatly, medical and 

workers’ compensation costs for these disorders may exceed 

US$ 100 billion annually. All over the world, the construction 

industry is worst hit with accidents and fatalities. Among 

accidents, ergonomics is a leading cause. 

CPWR (Ref 3) provides copious statistics on American 

construction ergonomics. Figure 1 shows non-fatal injuries and 

illnesses with days away from work, in the US construction 

industry, in 2005. It highlights that ergonomic problems such as 

sprains and strains (dominated by back pain and herniated disc) 

are the most common. 

Figure 1: Non-fatal injuries and illnesses. 

Figure 2 shows risk factors for work-related MSDs with days 

away from work, in the US construction industry, in 2005, 

indicating that common causes for work-related MSDs are 

bending, twisting, and over-exertion. 

Figure 3 clearly shows that next to transportation, the rate of 

back injuries and illnesses with days away from work is highest 

in construction. 

Figure 3: Rate of back injuries and illnesses, 2005. 

ERGONOMICS IN SPECIFIC 

CONSTRUCTION TRADES 

Ergonomic hazards of common trades in construction and some 

solutions (shown as bullet points) are as follows: 

Concreting 

Shovelling and smoothing the surface of concrete are strenuous 

on the lower back. Vibration of cast concrete can have cumulative 

deleterious effects on the human system. 

Concrete uses cement and this usually involves moving cement 

bags, which often weigh 50 kg. This problem is discussed in detail 

elsewhere in the article. 

• The addition of plasticisers improves concrete workability. 

• Singapore and other countries still using larger than 25 kg 

loads must proactively reduce the loads or provide human or 

mechanical aids. 

• Vibration cushioning gloves should be used and such tasks 

should be rotated among the workers. 

Reinforcement 

The fi xing and tying of reinforcement bars require bending and 

a great deal of rapid repetitive twisting of the wrist, the latter 

resulting in the development of ganglion cysts. Most on-site 

rebar binding with wire is done in a squatting position in many 

Asian countries including Singapore (Figure 4, left). Although one 

may consider this as culturally acceptable, especially since the 

immigrant labour originates from under-developed countries, it 

still is an adverse practice, ergonomically. 

• Even if one does not go to the extent of providing mechanical 

aids to do binding from a standing position, as in Western 

countries (Figure 4, right), employers should try to provide 

relief by job rotation, rest periods and so on. 

Fig. 2. Risk factors for work-related MSDs. 

Figure 4: Binding re-bars with wire. The image on left shows a worker binding bars 

while in a squatting position while the image on right shows a worker standing and 

performing the task with the help of a mechanical aid. 


19


Steel is heavy. A 15 m long, 32 mm diameter bar will weigh 95 

kg and it is not unusual to see two workers carry it. If done on a 

regular basis, this would be an invitation to MSDs. 

• More workers may not always help because of the uneven 

distribution of the continuous load on a number of workers of 

unequal height (and enthusiasm!) Mechanical aids are a must 

in this context. 

• The use of fabric, in lieu of bar reinforcement, reduces the 

amount of time spent fi xing and tying reinforcement for each 

concrete element, and reduces the amount of bending and 

rapid repetitive twisting of the wrist. 

• Using trestles also enables steel fixers to fix cages at ‘worktop’ level. 

Formwork 

The erection and striking of falsework (support structure) and 

formwork require large amounts of bending, twisting, and use 

of body force. 

• Designers can facilitate the use of composite systems through 

the simplifi cation of design, table forms, and wall forms which 

can be handled by craneage, thereby reducing the manual 

aspect of the activity. 

• The use of precast concrete also reduces the amount of falsework 

and formwork as well as on-site fi xing and tying of reinforcement 

required. Prestressed concrete elements, particularly slabs, also 

reduce the amount of reinforcement bars. 

Structural steelwork 

Problems with steel erection include awkward postures, 

occasional high force requirements, static postures, repetitive 

movements, use of pneumatic tools, and lifting. The high risk 

nature of the activity which entails straddling beams several 

metres in the air while aligning and bolting them to columns 

compounds the problems. 

• Pre-assembly, simple joints, and integral safety features can 

reduce hazards. 

Masonry 

Block- and brick- laying represent major work hazards in building. 

Lifting an average of 1000 bricks a day is equivalent to lifting 

2300 kg to 4000 kg, and 1000 trunk-twist fl exions. 

• A suitable intervention may be provision of waist-high material 

platforms. 

• Design improvements include the incorporation of handholds 

in blocks to facilitate lifting. 

• Alternative wall systems such as drywalls constitute the 

optimum solution. 

Roofi ng 

Roofi ng poses many different hazards due to minimal ergonomic 

input, but the prime one is material handling. Of the three 

types of roofi ng (unit and sheet materials and waterproofi ng 

membranes), unit materials require considerably more bending, 

twisting, and handling of mass per square metre of covered area, 

than sheet materials. 

• Use of ‘ladder type’ tile lifts facilitates the lifting of unit materials 

to roof level. 

Building facades 

Differing systems and materials pose differing problems. 

Concrete surface fi nishes such as bush-hammering present a 

risk of hand-arm vibration and health problems such as silicosis. 

Natural stone claddings require a lot of lifting and hoisting of 

heavy panels as well as adopting of awkward postures and handarm 

vibration as a result of fi xing. These present a risk of back 

injury and hand/wrist problems. 

• Design alternatives include light-weight sheet metal claddings 

and prefabricated, unitised curtain walling, which will minimise 

the risk factors. 

Plumbing and drainage/pipe-fi tting 

Piping is often laid at odd angles and in cramped spaces. Specifi c 

piping materials have specifi c jointing methods, not all of which 

are complementary to basic ergonomic principles. A number 

of installations are suspended and require extensive overhead 

work. The fi xing of the suspension hangers results in substantial 

stretching and twisting, and consequently a high level of stress 

on the neck and shoulders of workers. 

• Designers should consider the ergonomic implications of 

jointing methods when specifying materials, the feasibility of 

prefabricated stacks, and horizontal and vertical service ducts 

for piping. 

Electrical work 

Electricians often work in cramped postures and their work 

entails a large amount of wrist action, resulting in stress on the 

arms and shoulders. Making connections requires extensive use 

of hand-tools, often in cramped spaces such as ceilings above 

and between ducting and other piping. 

• Designers should make adequate provision for access during 

both design and coordination of services during design. 

Floor fi nishes 

All fl oor fi nishes require constant kneeling and bending. Ceramic 

and similar tile and terrazzo work entail additional risk. Often 

the weight of the tiles to be set can be substantial, particularly 

in the case of natural stone. Terrazzo and similar fi nishes require 

considerable hand and wrist motion. 

• When specifying fi nishes, designers should consider the nature 

of the pertaining processes. 

• Using trestle type work benches reduces the need for tilers to 

cut at fl oor level. 

Suspended ceilings 

Most suspended ceilings require signifi cant overhead work 

although the components are not particularly heavy. It is 

necessary to suspend primary tracks from hangers and 

secondary tracks between the primary tracks. Screw-up 

suspended ceilings require considerably more overhead work 

than lay-in tile ceilings. 

• Consequently, designers should specify lay-in tile ceilings 

where possible. 



• The use of mobile tower scaffolds with full work platforms is 

more complementary to ergonomics than the use of ladders. 

Painting and decorating 

Overhead painting of ceilings places considerable stress on the 

arms and shoulders, as well as the neck. 

• Designers should consider self-fi nishes where possible. 

Paving and other external work 

Brick paving requires work similar to that of tiling. In addition, 

pavers often have to be cut with an electrically powered masonry 

saw which requires working at ground level, and consequently 

requires the workers to bend a great deal. 

• The use of work-bench type masonry saws does reduce the 

hazard. Although asphalt paving exposes workers to wholebody 

and hand-arm vibration, workers are not exposed to 

the volume of repetitive movements and other work-related 

postures as in the case of brick paving. 

CAUSES AND IMPACTS 

Environmental factors associated with the workplace can cause 

many workplace problems. Below are some examples: 

• Extreme high temperatures can increase fatigue rate. 

• Exposure of hands and feet to cold can decrease blood fl ow, 

muscle strength etc. 

• Excessive or awkward grip force for tool handles or objects 

can cause injuries. 

• Exhaust cold or hot air directly from tools or equipment can 

cause discomfort. 

• Inadequate or too bright lighting in a workplace causes 

employees to assume awkward postures to accomplish work 

tasks, resulting in a loss of product quality. 

Other sources of ergonomic problems in a construction 

project are: 

1. Contractor’s awareness of ergonomics 

2. Standard of site house-keeping 

3. Degree of planning by contractor 

4. Amount of work during project 

5. Degree of mechanisation 

6. Format of materials 

7. Specifi cations 

8. Details 

9. Type of procurement system 

10. General design 

Rwamamara and Smallwood (Ref 1) list the impact of 

ergonomics on various stages of a building construction project, 

as shown below, in decreasing order of importance: 

1. Structural steel structure 

2. Reinforced concrete structure 

3. Installation of services (structure) 

4. Roof 

5. External works 

6. Ceilings 

7. Cladding/external fabric 

8. Site clearance and earthworks 

9. Finishes 

10. Walling/partitions 

MANUAL HANDLING 

The problem 

Almost all construction activities involve lifting and shifting 

objects by hand, which can lead to many ergonomic problems, 

mostly MSDs, causing considerable human misery and costing 

massive amounts of money for compensation and cure. Manual 

handling thus rates a special focus. 

More than a third of all over-three-day injuries reported each year 

to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities, 

in the UK, are caused by manual handling - the transporting or 

supporting of loads by hand or by bodily force. The pie chart 

(Figure 5) from HSE (Ref 4), shows the pattern for over-threeday 

injuries reported in 2001/2002. In the US, over-exertion, 

when lifting, caused 42% of the WMSDs with days away from 

work in construction as already shown in Figure 2. 

This is the single most vexing and most costly defi ciency in 

worksites, although many nations might not have identifi ed it or 

addressed it as such. 

Figure 5: Accidents causing over-three-day injuries. 

The biomechanics of manual lifting is very simple but worrisome. 

The simple fact is that when a person bends down and picks up 1 

kg, his vertebral column (backbone) experiences a compression 

force of 10 kg to 15 kg [Figure 6 (Ref 5)]. 

It may be shown from principles of simple mechanics that, 

allowing for the pressure from the weight of the person’s torso, 

the limit for the weight that an Asian male can bend and lift 

routinely is slightly less than 25 kg. Canada recommends 23 

kg as the limit (Ref 6). Lifting anything larger than that, except 

occasionally, will affect the spine adversely, leading to chronic 

back pain and irreversible damage. In the construction industry, 

workers often carry routinely much more than 25 kg. 


21


The problem does not end there. While 25 kg may be the upper 

load limit for normal carrying of a load straight up and down in 

front, any twisting of the torso with respect to the hips worsens 

the stress on the backbone and reduces the safe weight that can 

be carried. For instance, rotating the body 45° can reduce the 

carrying limit by about 15%. 

Frequent lifting and carrying of 50 kg cement bags will lead to 

permanent spinal injuries. Only some countries like Australia and 

UK have mandated worker maximum loads to 20 kg to 25 kg. 

Singapore has recommended that worker loads be limited to 

25 kg, in CP92 (replaced with SS 569), BOWEC, Construction 

Regulations (Jan 2008) etc. The limit is mentioned as desirable 

in risk control for hazardous industries, and in design for 

safety, DO2RAS, CONQUAS, and other documents issued by 

authorities. 

But in the present safety culture context, many simply do not 

know that there are guidelines on this topic, and even those 

who know may not adopt the recommendations because they 

are not mandatory. 

Figure 6: Forces on the vertebral column.. 

The solution right now 

1. Highlighting existing guidelines through publicity materials, 

advisories etc. WSHC (Workplace Safety and Health Council) 

and MOM (Ministry of Manpower) have recently been doing 

a lot in this regard. 

2. Educating stakeholders on the real dangers to workers 

handling heavy loads, and how in the long run, they can affect 

the health of workers. This means: 

(a) Educating the worker on why he should not carry heavy loads. 

(b) Educating the supervisor on how and why he should 

watch out for workers impulsively handling heavy loads. 

- Safety offi cers and supervisors must avoid this risk, through 

(i) imparting training for proper lifting, and (ii) adopting 

mechanical assist devices. 

(c) Educating the management so that it understands that 

adverse impact on workers can reduce productivity and 

cause a lot of compensation claims and court cases, 

thereby affecting business. 

(d) Educating inspectors on what to watch out for, and how 

to deal with violations. 

(e) Educating the public so that it does not expect or allow 

workers to carry heavy loads, and will be on the lookout 

for, and report, violations of these guidelines. 

3. Doing what can be done at workplaces, within the existing 

system, to alleviate the problem. Trying the standard 

hierarchy of controls put forward by Krishnamurthy (Ref 7), 

as shown below: 

(a) Elimination: Just not letting people handle 

loads. Using mechanical aids to move everything, if more 

than, say, 5 kg. This may not be easy. 

(b) Substitution: Substituting with loads smaller than 25 kg. 

Either getting smaller weight packages, absorbing the 

extra cost as insurance against health impacts, or, breaking 

up the larger loads delivered to site into smaller packages 

for shifting. 

(c) Engineering Controls: Providing mechanical aids operated 

by the workers, to ease their load, such as push carts, lever 

grips, hand-operated dollies, etc. The author once 

proposed a simple, low-cost swing arm mechanical device, 

to eliminate repetitive twisting by the worker, by letting 

the device do the twisting, leaving the worker to do only 

the pushing, as in Figure 7 (Ref 5). 

(d) Administrative Controls: With low wages being paid, 

immigrant construction labour is cheap. The simple 

expedient of putting two people to carry loads from 

25 kg to 50 kg, and proportionately more workers 

for heavier loads, will be adequate in the short term. This 

will require a little more supervision, and a little smarter 

management to ensure that the workers share the load 

nearly equally. 

(e) PPE: Although PPE will not reduce the load, gloves and 

safety shoes will protect hands and feet in gripping the 

load and if the load should fall. 

Figure 7: Case study of an ergonomic intervention. 


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PROCEDURE FOR ERGONOMICS 

MANAGEMENT 

Basic steps 

A formal procedure for ergonomics management has been 

described in detail by Cohen et al (Ref 8). The basic steps are: 

1. Looking for Signs of Work-related MSD Problems 

2. Setting the Stage for Action 

3. Training and Building in-house expertise 

4. Gathering/Examining WMSD Evidence 

5. Developing Controls 

6. Health Care Management 

7. Proactive ergonomics 

While the fi rst six steps are straight-forward and more in 

the nature of administrative procedures and controls, the last, 

proactive ergonomics, deserves special emphasis. 

The proactive approach 

• Proactive programmes focus on prevention of WMSDs and 

other ergonomic risks by identifying, assessing, and controlling 

risk factors at the planning stage. 

• Design steps should ensure proper selection and use of: 

- Equipment and tools 

- Job methods 

- Workstation layouts 

- Materials 

• Risks should be addressed at source. 

• The decision must be made on which functions should be 

handled by machines and which by people. 

• The decision must be made on which task can be accomplished 

by whom, particularly avoiding strenuous tasks with loads that 

are too large, too heavy, placed too high etc. 

• Questions must be asked before anything harmful happens: 

- Are employees working in uncomfortable postures? 

- Do they show signs of fatigue and discomfort? 

- Are there other warning signs such as reports of problems, 

high levels of absenteeism etc? 

- Do employees have ideas about how to improve products 

and make their jobs less physically demanding and more 

effi cient, and apply them? 

Benefi ts of proactive action 

• Reduced absenteeism 

• Increased effi ciency and productivity 

• Improved quality 

• Decreased fatigue 

• Improved employee morale 

• Increased cost savings within short payback periods from: 

- Greater output over a given time period 

- Reduced wastage of raw materials 

- Higher quality output and fewer mistakes 

- Savings in wage costs from jobs which were made less 

manually intensive 

- Reduced future compensation claims and recruitment 

PPE AND ERGONOMICS 

PPE and ergonomics are closely related because the way a 

worker wears and uses his PPE will have a large infl uence on his 

comfort and well-being. The following are a few instances: 

1. The wrong size of, or wrongly worn ear-plugs, which are 

meant to alleviate workplace noise problems, may cause 

earache and infection. 

2. Helmet straps and chin straps, badly adjusted, may give a 

head/neck ache. Loose-fi tting helmets will expose the 

worker to injury. 

3. If gloves are not worn, due to a lack of insistence by the 

supervisor, it will lead to damage of hands. 

4. Loosely worn full-body safety harnesses may damage 

the genitals of wearers. The use of body harnesses 

without appropriate anchors, falling clearance, and rescue 

system, will expose the worker to greater danger than 

without such PPE. 

BENEFITS OF ERGONOMIC SOLUTIONS 

According to MacLeod (Ref 9), among the numerous benefi ts of 

ergonomic solutions, the ones that directly favour the economics, 

are as follows: 

1. Dramatic reductions in workers’ compensation costs 

2. Improved productivity 

3. Fewer mistakes and less scrap 

4. Improved effi ciency with better working posture 

5. Improved effi ciency with less exertion 

6. Improved effi ciency with fewer motions 

7. Improved effi ciency with better heights and reaches 

8. Less fatigue 

9. Reduced maintenance downtime 

10. Protecting human resources 

11. Identifying waste 

12. Fresh insights on the operations 

13. Offsetting the limitations of an ageing workforce 

14. Reduced turnover 

15. Reduced absenteeism 

16. Improved morale 

17. Promoting employee involvement 

18. Improved labour relations 

19. Revival of basic ‘Methods Engineering’ 

20. Ability to optimise the Lean (Toyota) Process 

21. Ability to make things more human compatible, and 

improve the human-system interface 



25


THE SINGAPORE SCENE 

As per published statistics, construction ergonomics is not at all 

a problem in Singapore. Over the last few years, no injuries were 

reported under the category of MSDs, which has an incident 

rate of less than 1% of all occupational diseases. 

Having personally watched workers lift and move heavy 

construction materials and components around, the author 

attributes the low reported incident rate to the following, 

supported by some of the comments in Ref 10: 

• Under-reporting by the victims, and by employers themselves, 

since these ergonomic problems seem much less severe 

in comparison with most other construction accidents, 

although the relatively low grade pain could get worse over 

the long-term. 

• The under-reporting by the victims could be because the 

tolerance level of workplace discomfort and/or pain is 

relatively higher in Asia than in the West, especially since the 

immigrant workers who come to Singapore are from the 

relatively less developed countries. 

• Further, as noticed in Australia (Ref 10), since even most local 

and educated workers do not report body aches and pains, 

immigrant workers, who are dependent on the employer and 

the system for their work permits, would, all the more, tend 

to ignore and suppress their pain as much as possible. 

• Under-reporting by the employers could be mainly because 

they really did not realise the long-term implications of MSDs 

and manual handling, and partly because they too did not 

take seriously ‘minor’ problems that would adversely affect 

productivity. 

• MSDs and back pain symptoms grow gradually and slowly, 

taking a year or more to become unbearable even for young 

workers. Since immigrant workers are sent back home in 

about two years, there is little or no follow up of their health 

in this regard. 

• The metrics used for recognising ergonomic problems may 

involve only voluntarily reported and hospitalised cases, and 

are not based on regular personal interviews and check-ups 

conducted on the workers. 

Most of the preceding explanations place the burden of proof 

and cure for poor ergonomics squarely on the shoulders of the 

managements. Fortunately, as has been indicated in this article, 

the controls are very simple and inexpensive, compared to 

vexing problems like working at height. 

At the same time, going beyond construction ergonomics, 

a casual survey of world statistics on ergonomics (Ref 10) 

indicated the following: 

Australia: In a 2002 study of 60 people working at a Sydney call 

centre, it was found that although only two or three people 

offi cially reported Occupational Overuse Syndrome, up to 70% 

claimed to have aches and pains. 

According to Mr Bill Mountford, Chief Executive, Victorian 

WorkCover Authority, Victoria, Australia: 

• Each year, for the past fi ve years, between 17,000 and 

18,000 Victorians were injured at work via a sprain, strain or 

back injury. 

• While many Victorians mistakenly believe that muscular and 

soft tissue injuries are not serious, anyone who has suffered 

from chronic back pain or an injury of this kind knows just 

how debilitating the injury and recovery period can be. 

• The impact on a person’s quality of life and that of the 

person’s family can often be as devastating as the injury itself. 

USA: The Occupational Health and Safety Administration 

(OHSA) estimates that, every year, work-related (ergonomic) 

reasons account for more than 647,000 injuries and illnesses 

which, in turn, account for more than one-third of workers’ 

compensation costs - an estimated US$ 15 bilion to 

US$ 20 billion in direct worker’s compensation costs in 

1995 and an additional US$ 45 billion to US$ 60 billion in 

indirect costs. 

UK: Around 1.1 million people in Great Britain suffered from 

MSDs caused or made worse by work, in 2001/2002. 

Singapore: The republic has also recognised the incidence of 

ergonomic problems and has taken steps to address them. 

Seven in 10 adults in Singapore suffer from some form of 

work-related aches or pains, usually from improper posture 

during computer usage, according to a 2004 survey done by 

Singapore General Hospital (Ref 11). The body parts with the 

highest reported pain were neck (46%), shoulder (42%) and 

lower back (42%). MSDs are more common in females (79%) 

compared to males (64%). 

SS 514 Code of Practice for Offi ce Ergonomics, published by 

SPRING Singapore in 2005 (Ref 12) offers practical tips for 

companies. MOM has issued comprehensive guidelines on Work 

in Standing/Sitting Positions (Ref 13). The Ergonomics Society of 

Singapore promotes good ergonomics. 

Although not addressing ergonomics specifi cally, broadly 

speaking, the Singapore Ministry of Manpower Workplace 

Safety and Health Act of 2006 has been quite proactive, stating 

as follows: 

• The employer is responsible for the health and safety 

of workers. 

• Accountability for accidents and illnesses at the workplace 

spreads over all stakeholders and they face heavy penalties. 

• The employer must do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ 

to protect workers from harm. The employer must put 

funds, equipment, staff and materials to best use, conforming 

to best practices. 

• The employer must conduct risk assessment and implement 

controls for all hazardous jobs. 



27


• The employer must keep records for three years, meaning 

causes of worker strain and long-term injury may be tracked 

back to poor ergonomics at the workplace. 

• The employer must reduce risk at source, that is, before the 

worker starts doing the assigned task, so that it does not 

affect him. 

CONCLUSION 

Proactive Singapore will be doing well by focussing on 

ergonomic problems in construction, before they escalate into 

a national safety and legal problem. The problems and solutions 

to eliminate or alleviate their effects are well-known and 

implementation framework well established. All that is needed 

is concerted action along the lines of the recent approach to 

noise-induced deafness. 

• Knowledge on long-term effects of poor ergonomics should 

be disseminated more extensively to the industry, workers 

and other stakeholders. 

• The metrics for ergonomic statistics should be reviewed 

and redefi ned. 

• The necessary medical checks and controls should be 

implemented, including fi rm enforcement of regulations and 

codes, especially on manual handling. 

REFERENCES 

1. Rwamamara R A and John J Smallwood: ‘Ergonomics in 

Construction, Specifi cally in IDCs’ (2009), Chapter 19, 

Ergonomics in Developing Regions. Scott P A (ed), Boca 

Raton, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group p 307-322. 16 p. 

http://pure.ltu.se/portal/fi les/3109669/My_Chapter_19.pdf 

2. Wellsphere (2009): ‘Ergonomic Statistics that may surprise 

you’.http://www.wellsphere.com/workplace-health-article/ 

ergonomic-statistics-that-may-surprise-you/805601 

3. CPWR - Center for Construction Research and Training: 

‘The Construction Chart Book - The US Construction 

Industry and its Workers, 4 th Edition’ (2008), Silver Spring, 

MD, USA. 

4. HSE, UK: ‘Getting to Grips with Manual Handling - A Short 

Guide’ (2003). 20 p. 

5. Krishnamurthy N: ‘Risk Analysis of Manual Lifting’, The 

Singapore Engineer, Aug 2006, p 20-23, The Institution of 

Engineers, Singapore. 

6. Human Resources and Social Development Canada: ‘Protect 

your back!’ Retrievable from: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/ 

labour/publications/health_safety/back/page00.shtml 

7. Krishnamurthy N: ‘Introduction to Risk Management’ 

(2007). 86 p. 

8. Cohen A L, Gjessing C C, Fine L J, Bernard B P, and McGlothlin 

J D: ‘Elements of Ergonomics Programs: A Primer Based on 

Workplace Evaluations of Musculoskeletal Disorders’ (1997), 

NIOSH, US Department of Health and Human Services. 133 p. 

9. MacLeod D: ‘25 Ways Ergonomics Can Save You Money’ 

(2006), USA. Retrievable from: http://www.danmacleod. 

com/Articles/PDFs/25 Ways Ergonomics Can Save You 

Money.pdf 

10. ‘Ergonomics Now’. Retrievable from: http://www. 

ergonomicsnow.com.au/resources/statistics 

11. Tan Yi Hui: ‘Pain? Sit up and listen’, The Straits Times, Wed, Jun 

18, 2008. 

12. SPRING Singapore: ‘SS 514:2005, Code of Practice for 

Offi ce Ergonomics’. 

13. Ministry of Manpower, Guidelines on Work in Standing/ 

Sitting Positions, retrievable from: http://www.mom.gov.sg/ 

Documents/safety-health/factsheets-circulars/Guidelines on 

Work in Standing and Sitting Positions.pdf 

[This article is adapted and expanded from an invited talk on the 

same title, presented by the author at the ‘Construction Safety 

Summit’ organised by IES on 10 September 2012, as part of the 

CIB-W099 International Conference on ‘Modelling and Building 

Health and Safety’, held on 10 and 11 September 2012, hosted by 

the National University of Singapore. Additional information relating 

to the article may be obtained from the author (Email: safety@ 

profkrishna.com and Website: www.profkrishna.com)]. 

Singapore Standard on 

manual handling 

Launched in 2012, Singapore Standards - SS 569: 

2011 on the Code of Practice for Manual Handling, 

seeks to improve safety and health as well as help 

reduce the number of injuries at the workplace. 

This standard is a revision of the Codes of Practice, 

CP 92. 

Manual handling is an essential activity in most 

workplaces. Musculoskeletal injuries and disorders, most 

commonly associated with manual handling, may be 

avoided by implementing the SS 569. 

The SS 569 covers the identifi cation and risk assessment 

of manual handling hazards as well as helps to put in 

place appropriate risk control measures. It also provides 

guidance on the planning and implementation of an 

ergonomics programme for manual handling operations. 

In the SS 569, the risk assessment checklist has been 

updated and expanded to include the latest practices 

in helping workers avoid injuries arising from manual 

handling activities. 



29


Proper fitting of hearing protection devices 

by Albert Khoo, Business Development Manager, 3M Occupational Health and 

Environmental Safety Division 

It is important to prevent noise-induced problems for workers. 

As hearing loss continues to be the number one occupational 

disease in Singapore, it is important for organisations and users 

to understand how they can better protect their employees 

and themselves from excessive noise in the workplace especially 

if there is a reliance on hearing protectors. Statistics from the 

Workplace Safety and Health Report Jan-June 2012, published 

by the Workplace Safety and Health Council, clearly shows that 

Noise-induced deafness (NID) makes up 89% or 539 cases 

of total confi rmed Occupational Diseases (OD) in Singapore 

(Table 1.19). The breakdown, by industry of the total confi rmed 

Occupational Diseases during this period is given in Table 1.17. 

It is however, interesting to note that most of the reported 

cases are in the early stages of the disease (533), which means 

that the majority of them could actually benefi t from early 

intervention measures. Workers’ awareness is thus important in 

the early intervention stage as noise-induced hearing loss often 

goes undetected because there are no visible symptoms, and it 

develops gradually over a long period of time, causing pain only 

in rare cases of extreme exposure. 

The use of hearing protection devices such as earplugs is a 

common method employed to protect workers from excessive 

exposure to noise at the workplace. When using these devices, 

it is important to note that one should not just rely on the 

labelled performance stated on the packaging. The performance 

of one’s hearing protection device is rated by the amount of 

ambient noise it can reduce, measured in decibels (dB). In the 

US, the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) describes the average 

attenuation provided by a hearing protection device in a 

laboratory test. However, the NRR on the packaging of the 

devices reveals only the capability of the hearing protector, not 

its effectiveness. In the real world, users usually get much less 

attenuation - only about one-half to one-third of the laboratory 

values on which the NRR is based. 

From site visits conducted, it became apparent that one of the 

key reasons for the less-than-adequate protection received is 

that the hearing protection devices are not worn correctly. 

Organisations can provide for the best hearing protection 

device, yet workers are still not well protected because of 

improper usage. The most commonly seen problem is the 

poor insertion of ear plugs. Most users have had little or no 

training in inserting earplugs so they may not know how to 

do it properly, regardless of whether they are user-formable 

earplugs or pre-moulded earplugs. Also, unlike in laboratory 

situations, users tend to insert the earplugs too loosely 

especially if they know they must wear them for a long period 

of time. Figure 1 shows the poor, improper and proper fi tting of 

Table 1.19: Types of Confi rmed Occupational Diseases, 2011 and 2012. From 

Workplace Safety and Health Report Jan-June 2012, published by Workplace 

Safety and Health Council. 

Table 1.17: Number of Confi rmed Occupational Diseases by Industry, 2011 and 

2012. From Workplace Safety and Health Report Jan-June 2012, published by 

Workplace Safety and Health Council. 



user-formable earplugs, commonly called disposable earplugs 

or foam earplugs. 

Education on the right use of hearing protection devices is 

important to ensure that the issue of hearing loss is addressed. 

By equipping workers with the knowledge on how to use 

their hearing protection devices properly, they will be able to 

better prevent attenuation leaks and more effectively receive 

protection with the right hearing protection device. 

Figure 2 illustrates a suggested method to achieve a proper 

fi t using disposable earplugs while Figure 3 illustrates a 

suggested method to achieve a proper fi t using pre-moulded 

earplugs, sometimes referred to as reusable earplugs. 

Care must be taken when removing earplugs. The earplug 

must be twisted gently to break the seal before removing 

the earplug. 

The fi t of the earplugs must be checked by gently pulling on the 

earplug. It should not move easily. If the earplug slides out easily 

without any resistance, it must be removed and re-inserted 

deeper into the ear canal making sure that one-fourth of the 

earplug is outside the ear. 

In the workplace, there are also variations among users and 

types of hearing protection devices. As a general rule, earmuffs 

tend to give somewhat better attenuation than earplugs because 

they are more easily fi tted and they do not need to be inserted 

deep into the ear canal. 

With proper fi tting of hearing protection devices, the gap 

between the stated NRR and the attenuation realised in the 

workplace may be narrowed, thus improving their effectiveness 

in preventing NID. 

3M 

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them 

into ingenious products. The company’s culture of creative 

collaboration inspires a stream of powerful technologies that 

make life better. With US$ 30 billion in sales, 3M employs about 

88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 

70 countries. 

3M Personal Safety Division 

3M offers a comprehensive, diverse portfolio of Personal 

Protective Equipment (PPE) solutions providing respiratory 

protection, hearing protection, fall protection, refl ective materials 

for high visibility apparel, protective clothing, protective eyewear, 

head and face protection, welding helmets, and other adjacent 

products and solutions such as tactical safety equipment, 

detection, monitoring equipment, active communications 

equipment and compliance management. In 2012, 3M celebrated 

40 years of occupational health & safety leadership - recognising 

the company’s respiratory and hearing protection solutions 

introduced in 1972. 

[More information on hearing conservation solutions may be 

obtained from, and technical enquiries may be addressed to, 3M 

(Tel: 6450-8818/6450-8850)]. 

Poor Improper Proper 

Figure 1: Proper fi tting of user-formable earplugs. 

Wash your hands. Roll and squeeze 

earplugs between your thumb and fi rst 

two fi ngers into the smallest diameter 

possible. 

Reach over your head with the opposite 

hand and pull the top of the ear up and 

out to open the ear canal. 

While holding the ear, quickly push the 

rolled end of earplug into your ear. Hold 

the earplug in place for a few seconds 

until fully expanded. 

For best fi t, at least three-fourths of the 

earplug should be inside your ear canal. 

Figure 2: A suggested method to achieve a proper fi t using disposable earplugs. 

Hold the stem of the earplug fi rmly 

between thumb and forefi nger. 

Reach over your head with the opposite 

hand and pull the top of the ear up and 

out to open the ear canal. 

Push the rounded tip of the earplug 

completely into your ear canal, leaving the 

stem of the earplug outside the ear. 

Here is the reusable earplug properly 

positioned into the ear canal. 

Figure 3: A suggested method to achieve a proper fi t using pre-moulded earplugs. 


31

PROJECT APPLICATION 

Two Liebherr internal climbing tower cranes 

build designer homes in India 

Liebherr tower cranes are being employed in the residential project in Pune, India. 

Two Liebherr 71 EC-B 5 Fr.tronic Flat Top cranes are being 

used by developer Panchshil Realty to develop one of India’s 

landmark new residential projects, yoopune, designed by the 

celebrated designer Philippe Stark. 

The project is a fi rst in India for Panchshil and the world-leading 

design company, yoo - with both companies intent on redefi ning 

fashionable living standards in India. 

Located over 17 acres of land in the city of Pune, the development 

will consist of 228 ‘you inspired by Stark’ branded residences 

spread over six towers, each 22-storeys high and overlooking 5 

acres of original rainforest. 

The towers are formed into two separate facing blocks, with 

one crane located in the central lift shaft of each block, internally 

climbing as the building progresses. 

Panchshil, whose construction division is the contractor for the 

project, took delivery of the two cranes from Liebherr CMCtec 

India Private Ltd in December 2011. Both blocks reached the 

topping-out stage by mid-June 2012. 

The cranes do not rest on the ground, but on the slab. Starting 

with the cranes resting on the first slab, supported by beams, they 

extended upwards as construction work on the buildings progressed. 

The 71 EC-B 5 is a 5 t crane that has a maximum hook height 

of 41.5 m and a standard jib length of 50 m. Final hook height on 

this project will be close to 100 m. 

It was necessary to erect one of the cranes with a short jib of 

only 20 m, as there is a power line that runs close to one of the 

blocks. The other crane has the standard 50 m jib. 

It was found, however, that the difference in jib length did not 

make an appreciable difference to the construction cycle. The 

materials had to be ferried by hand around the fl oor area to a 

greater degree than with the 50 m jib, of course, but in practice, 

heavier loads were being lifted. 

At 20 m, the lift capacity is 4.15 t, so it was possible to place 

substantial loads at strategic points on the fl oor slab. 

Taken overall, construction progress was about the same. The 

performance was monitored and it was interesting to see how 

the two crane units compared. There is more fl exibility with the 

50 m jib, but it was a very satisfactory solution. 

The entire building is constructed from cast in situ concrete, with 

an RCC frame and fl oor slabs. Each fl oor has taken between 10 

and 15 days to complete. 

Progress on the project has been very smooth taking just six 

months to go from ground level to topping out. 

In addition to luxury apartments, yoopune includes a spa, 

swimming pools, basketball and tennis courts, a tea lounge and a 

cigar room, and recreation areas for children and families. 

The international landscape architect Bill Bensley will be 

responsible for the natural environment surrounding the homes. 

Scheduled for completion in 2014, yoopune will offer a selection 

of the best European designed fi xtures and fi nishes. 

Enquiry No: 02/101 



33


The expansion of Panama Canal 

Concrete admixtures from Mapei are being used in one of the largest construction projects 

in the world. 

The Panama Canal links the North American and South American continents. 

INTRODUCTION 

The 81.1 km long Panama Canal is an artifi cial channel that joins 

the Atlantic and Pacifi c Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama. 

Work is in full swing on the expansion of the canal which 

currently has two lock lanes. The new project seeks to add a 

third lane through the construction of two lock facilities (one, 

on the Atlantic Ocean side, and the other, on the Pacifi c Ocean 

side), to increase the fl ow of commercial traffi c along the canal 

as well as to enable even larger, heavier ships to pass through. 

Work on this imposing project commenced in 2007 and is 

scheduled to be completed in 2014. This will double the capacity 

of the canal, exactly 100 years after the fi rst crossing in 1914. 

Once the new locks have been completed in the north, at Gatún, 

on the Atlantic Ocean side, and in the south, at Mirafl ores, on 

the Pacifi c Ocean side, even Post-Panamax maxi container ships 

will be able to navigate along the canal. These ships, up to 366 m 

long and 49 m wide, can carry up to 12,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot 

Equivalent Units) of containerised cargo, compared with the 

4,400 TEUs currently allowed for the so-called Panamax ships. 

The canal expansion project is the result of an agreement 

between Administración Canal de Panamá (ACP), a Panama 

Government body delegated to running the infrastructure, and 

the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium comprising 

the companies Sacyr Vallehermoso (Spain), Impregilo (Italy), Jan 

De Nul (Belgium) and Constructora Urbana (Panama). 

The project also includes restructuring work on the original 

canal. 

The total cost of the project is US$ 5.25 billion. It will be fi nanced 

by the government through increasing toll charges by 3.5% for 

the next 20 years. 

A rendered image of the new locks which are currently being built at Panama Canal. 



THE CANAL IN NUMBERS 

Inauguration of the canal: 15 August 1914. 

First offi cial crossing: the Ancon ships, in 9 hours 40 minutes. 

Length of the canal: 80 km. 

Dimensions: maximum depth 12 m, variable width from 

240 m to 300 m in Lake Gatún, and 90 m to 150 m in 

correspondence with the so-called Culebra Cut. 

Canal operating mechanism: a system of locks divided into 

compartments, with entry and exit gates to lift the ships 

which then navigate to Lake Gatún to be lowered down 

to sea level. 

Dimensions of chambers in the locks: 33.53 m (width) and 

304.8 m (length). 

Number of workers employed during construction of the canal 

(from 1904 to 1913): 56,307, from every part of the world. 

Number of employees (as at September 2010): 9,759. 

Average time required to navigate the canal: 8 hours to 10 

hours, for average-sized ships. 

Number of ships navigating the canal, from 1914 to 2010: 

1,004,037. 

CONSTRUCTION CHALLENGES 

The key elements of this project are the two enormous locks, 

one on the Atlantic coast and the other on the Pacifi c coast. 

Work includes excavating and dredging the canal access on both 

sides for a total length of 11.2 km and a total width of 218 m. 

Each new lock facility will have three consecutive chambers (a 

lower, medium and upper chamber), regulated by four sliding 

gates which are designed to move the vessels from sea level 

to the level of Gatún Lake (26 m above sea level) and back 

down again. 

Each chamber will have three lateral water reutilisation basins 

for a total of nine basins per lock and 18 basins in total. Like 

in the existing locks, the new locks will be fi lled and emptied 

by gravity, without the use of pumps (200 million litres for 

each crossing). 

The new lock chambers will be 427 m long, 55 m wide and 18 m 

deep, and will have a total length of 1.5 km. The two enormous 

reinforced concrete structures will be completed with a new 

canal access on the Pacifi c side. 

Cimolai, from Pordenone, Northern Italy, will supply the new 

gates. Work will involve constructing 16 aluminium plate sliding 

gates, each one measuring 28 m in height, 58 m in length and 

16 m in width. 

The locks will be transported to Panama by sea and then 

installed on site between July 2013 and January 2014. 

A schematic layout of the canal, from the locks at Gatún to the locks at 

Mirafl ores. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CANAL 

The Panama Canal is one of the most important feats of 

engineering in the world, and is a must-see for anyone 

visiting the city. It was dug out in one of the tightest 

points and in the lowest part of the Central Cordillera of 

the isthmus which links the North American and South 

American continents. It takes a ship from 6 to 10 hours to 

navigate the canal which is made up of various elements 

- Gatún Lake, the Culebra Cut and the system of locks 

(Mirafl ores and Pedro Miguel on the Pacifi c Ocean side 

and Gatún on the Atlantic Ocean side). Gatún Lake, 

whose waters are fundamental for the functioning of the 

inter-oceanic waterway, was the largest artifi cial lake in the 

world for a number of decades. The system of locks allows 

ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacifi c Oceans, 

without having to circumnavigate South America. The 

ships are raised and lowered 26 m (due to the change in 

water level) as they transit the canal. Constructed by the 

US, between 1904 and 1914, the Panama Canal is still a 

symbol of the strategic importance of the isthmus, which 

it has maintained since the 16 th century, and is one of the 

most important communication routes in the world. 

A comparison between the existing and new locks. 


35


The two locks are currently being built, one on the Atlantic Ocean side and the other on the Pacifi c Ocean side. 

ADMIXTURES FOR CONCRETE 

Mapei admixtures were selected for all the concrete for the 

structures, including the mass concrete for the external sides 

of the concrete locks and the marine concrete for the internal 

sides of the locks. 

The latest generation of admixture technology will be used to 

produce 5,500,000 m 3 of concrete required for this grand structure. 

The aim is to ensure, through special tests on the concrete, 

that the structure will last 100 years. The fi rst tests, carried out 

at the GUPC consortium site laboratory, started in Panama in 

September 2010. 

Cement paste samples were tested to verify the compatibility 

and to fi nd the best plasticising capacity of various samples of 

admixture in combination with the types of cement scheduled 

to be used on the structure (CEMEX cement, type II ASTM and 

Panama cement, type II ASTM). 

In the fi rst phase of testing, to overcome problems which 

arise when using complex raw materials (basaltic aggregates 

and basaltic pozzolan), several admixtures were evaluated. The 

results showed that DYNAMON XP2, from Mapei, is the most 

suitable admixture, for use with the materials that had actually 

been chosen and which will be used in future on both the 

Atlantic Ocean side, where they are using Panama cement, and 

on the Pacifi c Ocean side, where they are using CEMEX cement. 

This led to Mapei’s winning the short-term supply contract. 

In early 2011, after starting production of the concrete and 

aggregates, several serious problems such as considerable loss 

of mechanical strength and durability in the concrete were 

solved, thanks to the contribution of Mapei. In this phase, Mapei’s 

support was concentrated on various activities - a study and new 

chemical and mineralogical characterisation of the raw materials 

used (fi ne sand, pozzolan and cement); technical suggestions 

and advice to help make a correct choice of the fl occulating 

and coagulating materials used to treat the water required for 

cleaning the aggregates; and chemical and petrographic analysis 

and control of the pozzolanic activity of the fi ne basalt sand to 

reduce or optimise its content of natural pozzolan. 

Following a request from the client, Mapei then started to 

develop a new product which could work well with the new mix 

designs being verifi ed at the GUPC laboratory. Mapei technicians 

designed a new, highly-evolved admixture called DYNAMON 

XP2 EVOLUTION 1, with the name chosen to give a sense of 

continuity to the enormous amount of work previously carried out 

on the old admixture. This product featured better maintenance 

of workability and application properties, even in small dosages. 

Mapei also contributed to renovation and consolidation work 

on the Gatún Lock, located approximately 30 m below ground 

and considered to be one of the most imposing reinforced 

concrete structure ever constructed. This project uses a special 

type of concrete and Mapei has supplied admixtures to make 

it - PLANITOP 15, an inorganic powder product added to 

the concrete cast into formwork, and the liquid admixture 

MAPECURE SRA, specially formulated to reduce the formation 

of cracks caused by hygrometric shrinkage in normal and selfcompacting 

concrete. 

Mapei’s fi nal contract in the new Panama Canal project was 

signed on 21 December 2011. The company’s success in 

winning the contract is the fruit of teamwork, the ability to 

provide constant technical assistance to solve both large and 

small problems, and the decisive support of the Mapei Research 

& Development laboratories in fi nding the most advanced 

technological solutions to make the best products. 



Mapei admixtures were selected for all the concrete for the structures, including the mass concrete for the external sides of the concrete locks and the marine concrete 

for the internal sides of the locks. 

PROJECT CREDITS 

Project 

Panama Canal expansion, Panama City and Colon (Panama) 

Period of expansion works 

2007 to 2014 

Client 

Administración Canal de Panamá 

Contractor 

GUPC (Grupo Unidos por el Canal) 

comprising: 

Impregilo (Italy), Sacyr Vallehermoso (Spain) 

Jan De Nul (Belgium), Constuctora Urbana (Panama) 

INTERVENTION BY MAPEI 

Mapei distributor 

Mapei Construction Chemicals Panama S A 

Period of the intervention by Mapei 

2010 to 2014 

Contribution by Mapei 

Supplying admixtures for the concrete used for building 

the new canal’s locks and renovating the existing ones. 

Mapei products used 

• DYNAMON XP2 and DYNAMON XP2 EVOLUTION 1 

(specially developed by Mapei for this project), for preparing the 

concrete mix required for the construction of the new locks. 

• PLANITOP 15 (only distributed on the American 

continents by the subsidiaries of Mapei Americas) and 

MAPECURE SRA, for preparing the concrete mix for 

the renovation of existing locks. 

Company website 

www.mapei.com 

For this building project, Mapei developed a new tailor-made admixture - 

DYNAMON XP2 EVOLUTION 1. The concrete made with it is characterised by 

good workability and ease of application. 

This editorial feature is based on an article from Realta 

Mapei INTERNATIONAL, Issue 40. All images by Mapei. 



37


Potain and Grove cranes work at the Panama Canal 

Fourteen Potain tower cranes and four Grove cranes are working on the Panama Canal expansion project. 

Latin America’s largest civil works project is the expansion of 

the Panama Canal, which is being undertaken at a cost of more 

than US$ 5 billion. The canal’s original construction was an epic 

project while the current expansion to double its size is an 

international effort. At the centre of the action are 14 Potain 

tower cranes and four Grove cranes. 

The Government of Panama entrusted the project for the 

expansion of the canal, to GUPC (Grupo Unidos por el Canal), 

a multinational consortium of contractors. The group chose 

Panama City-based distributor CORPINSA to handle the lifting 

work with the Potain MC 205 B tower crane and several models 

from the Grove mobile crane line. 

The Potain tower cranes were recommended to GUPC and 

CORPINSA because of their heavy-lifting capacity and their 

ability to move laterally on jobsite railways. This saves the 

workers from having to constantly assemble and disassemble 

the cranes as they move up and down the canal. 

At the jobsite, the 10 t capacity MC 205 Bs are positioned 

on both the Atlantic and Pacifi c sides of the canal, helping to 

construct the third set of locks. With 50 m of height under hook 

and 50 m of jib, they are working round-the clock, installing 

rebar, formwork and machinery, to assist in concrete pouring. 

Some are moving across the project on jobsite railways, while 

others are mounted on fi xed bases. 

GUPC purchased all 14 Potain tower cranes directly from 

Manitowoc. CORPINSA provided the four Grove cranes on 

a rental contract, helped install the Potain cranes, established 

their proper confi gurations during the planning stage and set 

the foundations for the fi xed base units. In addition, it trained 

workers on the project in the maintenance and operation 

of the cranes. All of this work was handled in its role as a 

Manitowoc Crane Care dealer. 

The MC 205 B cranes were manufactured at Manitowoc’s 

Zhangjiagang, China, factory and their cabs are especially 

comfortable for operators working at the canal. The average 

temperature on the jobsite hovers around 35° C, so GUPC 

purchased cabs equipped with air-conditioning. The Potain 

cranes also feature LVF Optima hoist technology which allows 

the hoist to adapt its speed to the weight of the load on the 

hook, thereby improving effi ciency. 

In addition to purchasing the Potain tower cranes, GUPC also 

rented two Grove all-terrain cranes (a Grove GMK5220 and 

a GMK5130-2), plus a TMS9000E truck-mounted crane and 

a RT890E rough-terrain crane, from CORPINSA. The Grove 

cranes helped assemble the tower cranes, and are now handling 

formwork and performing other lifting requirements. 

CORPINSA’s work with GUPC is ongoing for the duration of 

the canal’s expansion which is scheduled for completion in 2014. 

Along with support from Manitowoc Crane Care, CORPINSA 

is providing crane maintenance and technical support, and it has 

set up a spare parts yard on the jobsite to ensure the cranes 

can continue working. 

More than 150 million m 3 of soil and rock will be excavated 

from the site and more than 5 million m 3 of concrete will be 

poured for the new locks. When fi nished, the canal will have the 

capacity to accommodate larger ships, including supertankers 

and the largest modern container ships. 

The biggest challenge of this project is the limited time-frame 

- everything has to be done quickly. The cranes can never stop 

working, so a responsive and effective support system has to 

be in place. 



PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS 

Manitowoc rolls out the new MLC165 crawler crane 

Among the many new Manitowoc, Potain and Grove machines 

making their debut at bauma 2013 in Munich, Germany, is the 

MLC165 lattice-boom crawler crane. The 165 t crane is designed 

for the global market. 

The new MLC165’s many features make it a versatile crawler 

crane for both contractors and rental houses. 

The self-rigging crane is very easy to assemble and disassemble. 

It can install and remove its own counterweights and tracks 

without the need of a support crane. In addition, it has a 3 m 

component width and modular assemblies, for easy transport 

over the road. It is loaded with all the latest technology to 

benefi t everyone from owners to the operator. 

The MLC165 is easy to manoeuvre on a job site or among several 

job sites, making it ideal for general contractors, bridge builders, 

steel erectors, pile-driving contractors and more. It continues the 

reputation established by two other highly-successful Manitowoc 

models - the Manitowoc 555 and the Manitowoc 777. 

The crane’s design makes it suitable for a variety of applications. 

Manitowoc’s engineers designed the MLC165 to facilitate 

general contractor activities like pile driving and moderate 

clamshell or grapple work. 

The maximum boom length of the crane is 84 m. It also has an 

optional fi xed jib and luffi ng jib. The maximum boom and fi xed jib 

length is 93.4 m (69 m main + 24.4 m jib). The maximum boom 

and luffi ng jib reach increases to 102.8 m (51 m main + 51.8 m jib). 

Depending on the market, customers have options with a choice of 

The new MLC165 crawler crane from Manitowoc is designed for the global market. 

either a 224 kW Cummins Tier III engine or a more environmentfriendly 

239 kW Cummins Euromot 3B engine. A new open-loop 

hydraulic system, served by two variable displacement piston 

pumps, gives the 165 t crawler more lifting power than other 

cranes of its class. Its maximum load moment is 762 tm. 



39

SUSTAINABILITY 

Global phosphorus and the case for 

phosphorus recovery 

by Dr Art Umble, MWH Global 

The need to manage the demand and supply of this important resource has become crucial. 

Introduction 

Phosphorus is obtained primarily through surface mining 

(about 75%) of phosphate rock. The vast majority (more than 

80%) is mined from sedimentary formations, in which the 

phosphate content ranges from 5% to 40% as the P 2 

O 5 

apatite 

form. As more and more of these formations are mined, the 

quantity of phosphate recovered is in decline, and because 

sedimentary rock contains heavy metals (such as cadmium), 

the quality of the phosphates being recovered is also in 

decline. Today, for every tonne of phosphate rock processed, 

5 tonnes of a waste product, known as phosphogypsum, is 

created. This waste product is not easily disposed of because 

it is a radioactive hazardous waste due to its high levels of 

radium. As a result, large stockpiles of waste phosphogypsum 

are accumulating worldwide. 

Phosphorus is the 11 th -most abundant mineral in the earth’s 

lithosphere. The estimated global presence of the phosphate 

resource is in the range of 4000 billion metric tonnes. But 

much of the resource is currently inaccessible. In fact, the 

estimated accessible reserves range from 30 billion metric 

tonnes to 40 billion metric tonnes. These are currently being 

extracted at rates estimated at 167 million metric tonnes 

per year, though current global production capacity exceeds 

6,300 million metric tonnes. Reserves are estimated based 

on the economics of accessibility. A reserve is considered 

countable if it can be profi tably extracted. In the case of 

phosphates, this has historically been about US$ 40/tonne. 

Obviously, as economic trends change, they affect profi tability 

and therefore reserve estimates also change. 

Despite the apparently large phosphorus resource base, 

there are indications that the known accessible reserves 

could be depleted by the end of the 21 st century. The reason 

lies in the phosphorus cycle. Once phosphorus is mined, 

it enters the human use cycle (for example, in supporting 

food production). That phosphorus eventually (that is, over 

decades) returns to the soil or water environments as a 

component of the waste products from human activity. Once 

in these environments, though some can be reused (through 

re-uptakes in new terrestrial and aquatic biotic growth), much 

remains ‘bound’ and re-enters the geologic cycle (through 

sedimentation) which spans millions of years before it can 

be mined and used again. Once phosphorus re-enters the 

geologic cycle, it is, for all intents and purposes, forever lost 

for further benefi cial use. This is illustrated in Figure 1. 

Fate of Phosphorus in the Human Cycle 

Fate of Phosphorus 

in the Geologic Cycle 

Figure 1: Fate of phosphorus. 

Estimates show that since just 1950, the phosphorus lost to 

the geologic cycle exceeds 25% of all the phosphorus mined 

to-date. Unless phosphorus is prevented from re-entering 

the geologic cycle, there is a point in the future when the 

extractable reserves will be depleted, as mentioned above. 

This is expected to carry dire consequences for human 

existence as one knows it today. Therefore, whether or not 

phosphorus depletion becomes a global reality depends 

much on managing global demand for phosphorus with 

remaining available supply. 

Global demand 

Though the phosphorus mineral was fi rst discovered in the 

late 1600s, it was not until more than 200 years later that 

its highly benefi cial use as a fertiliser (for enhancing food 

production) was fi rst realised. Today, fertiliser is by far the 

dominant use for phosphorus (more than 90% of mined 

phosphates are used in producing agricultural fertilisers for 

food production). Due to its large agricultural sector, the US 

accounts for nearly one-quarter of the world’s total demand 

for phosphorus, while China/Asia accounts for about onefi 

fth, due to both agricultural and industrial expansion. 

The global demand for phosphate-based fertilisers continually 

grows, and without doubt, it remains the fundamental pillar 

in the world’s capacity to support its expanding population. 

Not surprisingly, because of its direct link to food production, 

demand for phosphate-based fertilisers (and hence its price) 

is heavily infl uenced by the agricultural sector’s capacity to 

produce enough food to support continued population 

expansion. It has been estimated that food production 

must increase between 50% to 70% in order to meet the 

food needs for the estimated 9.2 billion population in 2050. 

The greatest infl uence on the demand for phosphorus 

for fertiliser production is the energy input required for 

producing phosphate-based fertilisers, and historically the 



energy source has been fossil fuels. As energy prices rise, 

fertiliser prices rise concomitantly. 

Global population growth is not the only thing driving 

demand for phosphorus. Rapidly advancing economies in 

developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America 

are demanding higher protein-enriched diets (particularly 

meat) which in turn require signifi cant increases in food 

chain production. Furthermore, the increasing demand for 

biofuels to supplement fossil fuels in the world’s expanding 

transportation sector also places new demands on 

phosphate-based fertilisers. 

Can the globe’s supply of phosphorus meet these growing 

demands? The remaining reserves of phosphate-based rock 

are known to be located predominantly in China, Morocco, 

South Africa and the US. Together, China and Morocco hold 

75% of these reserves. Some believe that additional reserves 

will be located as extraction and recovery technologies 

advance (for example, from off-shore deposits), but this 

remains highly speculative. Many argue, therefore, that 

demand will continue to outpace supply until reserves are 

depleted, unless major shifts occur in the way phosphorus 

demand is currently managed. And some believe these shifts 

must be accomplished within the next two decades. 

Closing the supply-demand gap 

Closing the gap between the expanding demand for phosphorus 

and its shrinking reserves can be addressed on several fronts. 

Clearly, a major change in the manner in which the world’s food 

production chain is managed is crucial. Research has shown that 

from the point of phosphate extraction from a mine, to the 

point of human consumption of food, more than 80% of that 

source phosphorus is lost, and much of that to the geologic cycle. 

This is depicted in Figure 2. It is estimated that about 20% is 

lost in the extraction and fertiliser production processes 

and about 60% is lost in the food production (40%) and 

consumption (20%) chains. 

By applying basic best management practices in food 

production supported by governmental policy interventions, 

it is believed that global phosphorus demand can be reduced 

by more than 25% by the end of this century. Coupling this 

with shifts away from meat-based protein diets, the overall 

demand can be reduced by half. 

Figure 2: Phosphorus losses. 

Remaining after 

losses in mining and 

fertiliser production 

Human waste has, for millennia, been used as fertiliser in 

supporting food production. This is due to the concentration 

of nutrients present in human excreta material. It is estimated 

that based on the current global population, if all human 

excreta wastes were collected and used as fertiliser, this could 

replace nearly one-third of today’s global phosphorus-based 

fertiliser demand. Though this may seem impractical today, it 

is clear that the recovery of phosphorus from human waste 

must be, and indeed eventually will be, a signifi cant part of 

the total solution for balancing phosphorus demand with its 

supply. The opportunity to do so exists in both developed 

and developing countries. 

In the developing world, the most signifi cant opportunity 

lies in source separation of urine and faecal wastes. As 

these countries develop, and new, ‘fi rst-in’ infrastructure for 

wastewater collection and treatment systems is considered, 

it is appropriate for the sewerage collection infrastructure to 

allow for the separate collection of urine and faecal matter. 

Waste separation is most cost-effectively accomplished at the 

source point (that is, using special toilets installed in homes, 

businesses and institutions, that are designed with the means 

to separate urine and faeces). 

Urine contains more than 50% of the phosphorus that enters 

a treatment facility. By separating the urine, the phosphorus 

can be readily recovered by simple precipitation chemistry 

(either at the source or at a central collection and storage 

facility) and readily reused as a slow-release fertiliser. 

Furthermore, wastewaters that have urine removed are more 

stoichiometrically balanced in terms of their carbon, nitrogen 

and phosphorus content, and therefore more effi ciently 

treated in conventional biological treatment systems. This 

has the ancillary benefi t of reducing energy inputs in the 

treatment process. 

In developed countries, the opportunity, though present, 

is much more complicated. In many of these countries, sewage 

collection infrastructure has been in place for decades and 

it does not have the means for separating waste streams. 

The massive investments societies have made in these fi xed 

assets make it impractical, and politically next to impossible, 

to abandon them in favour of creating new (or even 

retrofi t them with) infrastructure designed to accommodate 

source separation on a large scale. Instead, the opportunity 

for developed countries currently lies in the removal 

and recovery of phosphorus from the liquid and solids 

ractions of the full sewage fl ow at ‘end-of-line’, or central 

treatment facilities. 

In many developed regions and countries (particularly Europe 

and the US), regulatory frameworks are in place to reduce 

nutrient loads being discharged into the environment via the 

effl uents from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment 


41


works. As a result, schemes for the removal of phosphorus to 

meet these regulations have historically focused on chemical 

precipitation using metal salts. Unfortunately, this transfers 

phosphorus to the geologic cycle leaving it unavailable for 

recovery. More recently, however, technologies have been 

developed whereby phosphorus is recovered from the 

treated waste streams again using precipitation chemistry, but 

resulting in a precipitate form that is immediately available as 

a slow-release fertiliser for agricultural use. This precipitate is 

essentially struvite, a phosphate mineral compound consisting 

of magnesium, ammonium, and phosphate (NH 4 

MgPO 4·6H 2 

O 

and occasionally referred to as ‘MAP’) whose solubility is 

extremely low in natural waters. 

Though the recovery of phosphorus using struvite 

precipitation chemistry is feasible from most municipal 

(and some industrial) wastewater streams, it has been 

found to be most effi cient and cost-effective when applied 

to treatment facilities that employ biological phosphorus 

removal technology coupled with anaerobic digestion of the 

excess solids. 

Up to 90% of the phosphorus present in a raw wastewater 

stream can be recovered from the solids treatment train 

(Figure 3). In the biological phosphorus removal process, 

phosphorus is concentrated in special bacterial species 

capable of storing phosphorus in quantities far exceeding 

those amounts needed for growth and reproduction. During 

exposure to anaerobic environments in the treatment plant 

(such as anaerobic digestion), this stored phosphorus is 

released from these bacteria back into solution where it 

remains with the digestion reject streams (such as solids 

dewatering centrates or fi ltrates) where it can be readily 

precipitated as struvite at reasonably high recovery effi ciency 

rates. In fact, systems are now commercially available that are 

designed to provide this recovery function, and can be easily 

integrated into the treatment train. The resulting struvite 

product is then directly marketed as a fertiliser. 

Figure 3: Phosphorus recovery from solids train. 

The recovery function is not limited to the reject streams 

from anaerobic digestion. Processes exist where phosphorus 

is removed and recovered ahead of the digestion process, 

again as a struvite byproduct. The advantage of these types 

of systems is that they signifi cantly reduce the potential for 

undesirable struvite formation within the digester unit, which 

results in extensive maintenance challenges. 

It is noteworthy that the predominant application of 

these commercial phosphorus recovery systems has been 

at facilities that employ biological phosphorus removal 

technology. However, numerous conventional facilities, 

which have integrated anaerobic selector zones into their 

conventional activated sludge treatment train for purposes of 

improving settleability of the activated sludge, fi nd that some 

degree of biological phosphorus removal often develops 

inadvertently, paving the way for phosphorus recovery from 

these as well. However, much research remains to be done, to 

develop effi cient and cost-effective methods for recovering 

phosphorus (via the struvite or other mechanisms) from 

conventional treatment systems. 

Conclusion 

Phosphorus is a fi nite resource. Because it has no known 

substitute, when it is depleted, the world would have no way 

to sustain life as is currently known and understood. Debating 

whether phosphorus will deplete in 50 years or 300 years is 

meaningless. What matters is that the world cannot continue 

in a ‘business-as-usual’ mindset with respect to how the 

phosphorus resource is utilised. The solution to the global 

phosphorus problem lies not in exploring for new sources 

of supply, but in managing and reducing the current demand 

for phosphorus. Reducing demand requires improving the 

effi ciency by which existing phosphorus supplies are utilised, 

that is, reducing losses in i) fertiliser production ii) the ‘farmto-fork’ 

food production chain and iii) the food consumption 

chain, and by recovering phosphorus from all known 

waste streams. 

The recovery of phosphorus from municipal (and some 

industrial) wastewaters is the opportunity that must not 

be overlooked and it exists in both the developing and 

developed societies. In the developing countries, it lies in 

installing new sewage collection infrastructure that separates 

waste streams at their sources such that phosphorus can be 

effi ciently and cost-effectively recovered. In the developed 

world, it lies in outfi tting existing treatment infrastructure 

to achieve phosphorus recovery. This is being done within 

treatment systems already designed to remove phosphorus 

for regulatory compliance, but it needs to expand into all 

levels of treatment, including conventional levels. In all cases, 

the goal is to capture the phosphorus from the waste stream 

and recycle it directly to the human cycle rather than losing 

it forever to the geologic cycle. 



43

NEWS 

DSM Dyneema opens Asia Pacific Technical 

Center in Singapore 

DSM Dyneema recently opened its Asia Pacifi c Technical Center in Tuas, Singapore. 

DSM Dyneema, the inventor and manufacturer of Dyneema 

Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), said to 

be the world’s strongest fi bre, offi cially opened its Asia Pacifi c 

Technical Center, recently. 

For DSM Dyneema, the new 2,500 m 2 , S$ 10 million centre, located 

in Tuas, Singapore, is a fi rst of its kind in Asia Pacifi c. The company 

established the facility to better meet the needs of its customers 

and employees, as part of its growth strategy for the region. 

In addition to traditional materials testing, the facility will house two 

ballistic ranges and labs for conducting comprehensive tests for 

both personnel and vehicle armour applications with Dyneema, 

in accordance with international and regional standards. For DSM 

Dyneema, this will be the third global ballistics testing facility - 

complementing its units in the US and Europe. 

“We are very excited today with the opening of the new Asia 

Pacifi c Technical Center”, said Mr Gerard de Reuver, President 

of DSM Dyneema, on the occasion of the Offi cial Opening of 

the facility. 

“This region is a key part of our global corporate strategy, with 

our focus on high growth economies. With the opening of our 

new centre, we will provide our customers with the support to 

ensure all their innovative and technical needs with Dyneema 

are met”, he added. 

Through this centre, DSM Dyneema will look to address 

the unique needs of its customers across current and new 

businesses in the rapidly growing Asia Pacifi c region. The facility 

will support the technological capabilities of customers in 

sectors such as life protection, shipping, offshore engineering, 

industrial engineering and safety. In addition, DSM Dyneema will 

develop and drive new application areas like renewable energy. 

The Asia Pacifi c region has seen increased demand for stronger, 

lighter and more sustainable products such as DSM Dyneema’s 

UHMWPE fi bre, uni-directional fabric and tape, which are 

replacing traditional materials like steel and aramids. 

“This step positions DSM Dyneema to further accelerate this 

transformation by working more closely on developments with 

our partners in the region”, Mr de Reuver continued. 

“We are delighted to be home to DSM’s fi rst global ballistics 

testing facility in Asia Pacifi c, and the regional headquarters for 

the DSM Dyneema business group. In order to succeed in the 

growing Asia marketplace, companies must constantly innovate 

new applications and processes in a manner that refl ects the 

specifi c needs of the Asian consumer. Singapore is an ideal 

platform for leading specialty companies like DSM to orchestrate 

its business growth, and to develop and commercialise new 

products in Asia for Asia”, said Mr Julian Ho, Assistant Managing 

Director, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). 

High growth economies in Asia 

Asia Pacifi c is a key region for DSM Dyneema as it is home to 

many high growth economies such as India and China, Korea, 

Malaysia, Thailand and Australia, all of which are seeing rising 

demand for stronger, lighter, more durable and sustainable fi bre 

solutions. 

DSM Dyneema has been present in the region, since the early 

1980s, and fi rst set up its regional headquarters in Shanghai in 

2005 to serve the fast-growing China market. Today, it operates 

from fi ve offi ces - in Beijing and Shanghai, in China; Seoul, in 

South Korea; Mumbai, in India; and Singapore. 


NEWS 

Dyneema fibre 

Made from UHMWPE, Dyneema fi bre is said to offer maximum 

strength combined with minimum weight. It is said to be up to 

15 times stronger than quality steel and up to 40% stronger than 

aramid fi bres, both on a weight for weight basis. Dyneema fi bre 

fl oats on water, is durable, and is resistant to moisture, UV light 

and chemicals. 

As a result of these properties, Dyneema is fast becoming a 

more effective alternative to traditional materials like steel wire 

and synthetic rope in a wide range of industries and applications. 

It is used to secure very large commercial vessels; safeguard the 

lives of police, soldiers, and emergency workers; reduce airline 

fuel consumption with stronger light-weight containers; extend 

the lifting and towing capabilities of ocean rescue and salvage 

vessels; improve fi sh farm yields with stronger netting; produce 

gloves to protect the hands of workers in the manufacturing 

sector; and develop new medical devices for surgeons. In the 

Asia Pacifi c region, Dyneema has the following applications: 

• Life and vehicle protection: Incorporated into personnel 

protection equipment such as bullet resistant vests, 

helmets, and inserts, Dyneema increases ballistic 

performance without increasing weight, making them 

comfortable and safe for wearing in extreme conditions 

and over long periods of time. Dyneema panels 

in military vehicles provide added protection at low 

additional weight. 

• Commercial marine: Mooring and tugging ropes made with 

Dyneema help reduce mooring times, improve safety and 

vessel effi ciency, and cut physical workload. Commercial 

fi shing nets and aquaculture cages made with Dyneema are 

tough and resistant to wear and tear, delivering signifi cant 

economic and handling benefi ts to fi sh farmers. 

• Industrial: Ropes and lifting slings made with Dyneema are 

stronger and lighter than those made with traditional steel 

wire or synthetic materials. This contributes to greater safety, 

effi ciency, precision and speed for any heavy lifting operations 

on land or at sea. 

• Protective textiles: Lightweight safety gloves and garments 

containing Dyneema offer higher levels of cut-protection, 

fl exibility and comfort. Possessing high abrasion resistance, 

gloves and garments can be washed and re-used several times. 

• Sports: Dyneema gives yachting lines, sail cloth and rigging the 

same strength but with up to half the weight of traditional 

materials. Fishing lines are easier to cast and retain their 

original shape. Kite lines made with Dyneema have a higher 

stiffness combined with low elongation, make steering easier. 

DSM Dyneema Asia Pacific Technical Center 

The DSM Dyneema Asia Pacifi c Technical Center incorporates 

the following: 

• Two ballistics ranges capable of performing a wide range of 

small to large calibre ballistics testing for both personnel and 

vehicle protection applications, in accordance with various 

international standards. 

• A ‘Stab Tower’ capable of testing concepts and applications for 

protection against knife or spike threats, in accordance with 

international standards. 

• An environmental chamber using low and high temperatures 

for conditioning articles before testing. 

• Two large hydraulic press machines capable of producing fl at 

and/or curved articles using Dyneema, for the development 

of current and new applications. 

The Asia Pacifi c Technical Center is also equipped with 

technology which allows customers to connect with DSM 

Dyneema fi bre is used in mooring ropes and lifting slings, replacing traditional 

materials. It ensures greater operational effi ciency and enhances safety. 

Dyneema uni-directional product grades and tape technology are used in both 

personnel and vehicle protection applications. 

DSM Dyneema’s Diamond Technology incorporated in safety gloves provides 

greater cut-resistance with no compromise in comfort or durability. 


For more information or to subscribe, call 6469 5000. 


45

NEWS 

Dyneema to view their test results at their convenience and in 

a secure manner. 

Customers in this region will be able to leverage on Dyneema’s 

global expertise, as this centre is connected to the company’s 

technical centres in the US and Europe. 

DSM Dyneema 

With a global staff strength of approximately 700 employees, 

DSM Dyneema is headquartered in Urmond, the Netherlands, 

and has manufacturing plants in Heerlen, the Netherlands; 

Greenville, North Carolina, USA; and Laiwu City, Shandong 

Province, China; as well as a manufacturing joint-venture with 

Toyobo in Japan. The gel-spinning technology that forms the 

basis of Dyneema was fi rst invented in 1979, while the name 

itself is a combination of two Greek words, ‘dynamis’ and ‘neema’ 

which translates, respectively, into strength and fi bre. 

A culture of innovation 

Innovation is an essential core value of DSM Dyneema, and the 

business has been built entirely on an initial breakthrough in 

materials science, that enabled the company to successfully spin 

fi bres from UHMWPE. DSM Dyneema continuously evaluates 

new initiatives, looking for ways to improve its business and the 

business of its partners and customers. Today, the company has 

a dedicated Innovation Group and a policy of Open Innovation 

to ensure its materials play a leading role. 

DSM Dyneema maintains extensive product specifi cations 

and testing data, that are made available to customers and 

partners. In addition, it shares technological and scientifi c 

developments across labs with partners, to leverage skills and 

create maximum value quickly. As a result, DSM Dyneema has 

established a track record of long-term collaborations with 

manufacturers, government ministries, scientifi c and research 

communities, and academia, that have created true ‘win-win’ 

situations. Globally, DSM Dyneema owns a patent portfolio of 

approximately 150 patent families and 600 individual patents 

and this continues to grow. 

With the addition of the new Asia Pacifi c Technical Center, DSM 

Dyneema expects to further expand and reinforce its global 

R&D leadership in high-strength, low weight materials through 

local collaboration. It will bring the company closer to its Asia 

Pacifi c customers, and speed up delivery of innovative and highend 

solutions to meet local needs. 

DSM 

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, 

nutrition and materials. The company offers innovative solutions 

in areas such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, 

feeds, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, 

electrical engineering and electronics, life protection, alternative 

energy and bio-based materials. 

DSM’s 22,000 employees deliver annual net sales of about € 9 billion. 

Sustainable solutions 

DSM is again among the leaders from the chemical industry 

sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2012. 

Since 2004, the company has been ranked three times among 

the very top leaders in the sector. DSM’s corporate strategy 

aims to create and support sustainable growth with solutions 

and services based on three main pillars - climate & energy, 

health & wellness, and functionality & performance. 

Dyneema in nets and ropes can help reduce the fuel 

consumption of a typical trawler by up to 10%, compared to 

the fuel consumption when traditional materials are used, and 

brings the benefi ts of reduced weight and easier handling to 

trawlermen. Another example is in the area of renewable energy, 

with SkySails, a kite-based system that is tethered to ship decks 

via towing ropes made with Dyneema. The kite captures wind 

energy that propels the ship. Under optimal wind conditions, the 

system can cut fuel consumption by up to 35%. 

Further exemplifying the company’s commitment to sustainability, 

DSM Dyneema’s Asia Pacifi c Technical Center received the 

Green Mark Gold Plus certifi cation from Singapore’s Building and 

Construction Authority (BCA). 

The Singapore Engineer 

Products & Solutions Enquiry Form 

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products that were featured in this issue of ‘The Singapore 

Engineer’ magazine. 

Please list the enquiry number(s) of the product(s) that 

you are interested in. (Information is provided free-ofcharge 

to all readers) 

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email Jeremy@iesnet.org.sg. 




NEWS 

Jet grouting project in London wins 2012 

Bentley Be Inspired Award 

The joint-venture of Taylor Woodrow and BAM Nuttall, two 

leading engineering and construction fi rms in the UK, and London 

Underground recently announced that their ‘Victoria Station 

UpgradeProject - Jet Grouting’ in London, UK, won a 2012 Be 

Inspired Award from Bentley Systems, a leading provider of 

comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. 

The project won in the ‘Innovation in Construction’ category. 

The recipients of the Be Inspired Awards are selected by 

independent panels of jurors comprising accomplished Bentley 

users and distinguished industry experts. The awards honour the 

extraordinary work of Bentley users in improving and sustaining 

the world’s infrastructure. 

The upgrade project includes a series of sprayed concrete 

tunnels connecting new and existing parts of Victoria Station in a 

site extremely crowded with existing infrastructure. To make the 

gravel substrate suitable for tunnel construction, 2,500 jet grout 

columns are being installed by Taylor WoodrowBAM Nuttall JV. 

The joint venture carried out its initial design of jet grout 

column orientation using MicroStation. Survey information on 

the location of services and utilities was fed into the 3D model, 

column orientations were adjusted, dynamic sectional views 

were reviewed, and construction planning visualisations were 

created. Geometry data was then transferred from the model 

to the rig control system, and as-built data was fed back into the 

model, eliminating data entry errors. 

Taylor WoodrowBAM Nuttall JV’s use of information modelling 

not only defi nes the location of the columns but also allows data 

to be assigned to the model entities. 

The judges determined that this project is a perfect case study 

in how critical infrastructure projects need precise engineering 

information modelling for construction, information acquisition, 

and information management, to succeed in execution, with 

minimum impact on, and maximum benefi t to, the public. 

Victoria Station on the London Underground is a key part of 

London’s transport infrastructure, with some 82 million people 

passing through the interchange each year, making the job site 

an incredibly busy one. Existing constraints meant that the new 

tunnels designed could not be located in the ideal tunnelling 

medium of London clay, so ground improvement was required 

to treat the gravels to make them suitable for sprayed concrete 

tunnel construction. Moreover, due to historic use of the station’s 

development, the site has become saturated with numerous 

services and utilities, for which there are few accurate records 

describing their location in suffi cient detail. These complexities 

and others would have made the execution of this complex 

ground treatment project diffi cult, if not impossible, without 

the deployment of the innovative MicroStation information 

modelling software, coupled with the in-depth knowledge, talent, 

and dedication of well-trained and highly skilled project teams. 

Be Inspired Awards 

Since 2004, the Be Inspired Awards competition has showcased 

excellence and innovation in the design, construction, and 

operation of architecture and engineering infrastructure projects 

around the world. The Be Inspired Awards is global in scope 

and comprehensive in the categories covered, encompassing all 

types of infrastructure projects. In the awards programme which 

is open to all users of Bentley software, independent panels of 

industry experts select fi nalists and a winner for each category. 

The awards are presented during a ceremony at Be Inspired: 

Innovations in Infrastructure, an invitation-only conference that 

provides a unique forum for senior-level executives to learn 

about the innovations driving the development and operation 

of the world’s top infrastructure projects. The 2012 Be Inspired 

Awards ceremony recognised outstanding achievement and 

innovation in infrastructure design, construction, and operation, 

by the winners, selected by fi ve independent panels of jurors, 

from 58 project fi nalists. In total, nominations from more than 

250 organisations in 39 countries were submitted in the 2012 

awards programme. 

CSC to hold seminar on 12 April 2013 

Leading structural software developer, CSC, is hosting its 

2013 innovation and technology seminar in Singapore on 

12 April. Structural engineers in Singapore will hear from 

industry experts on the latest structural design technology 

and gain an understanding of how software can increase 

effi ciencies and profi tability. At the same time, the structural 

engineers can earn PDU points. 

Mr Mark Roberts, CEO of CSC will be the keynote speaker. 

He will discuss the pivotal role structural engineers play in 

the entire Building Information Modelling (BIM) process, 

explaining how the adoption of Structural BIM can lead to 

increased productivity, and ultimately more profi t. He will also 

give delegates an insight into how CSC’s next generation of 

exciting products will push the boundaries of BIM technology. 

During the event, CSC will unveil the ground-breaking 

new release of Orion v18, demonstrating how complex 

reinforced concrete buildings can be designed faster and 

more effi ciently than ever before. Touching on many of 

the new features, CSC will showcase how Orion now 

automates both torsion design and FE load decomposition, 

and demonstrate the enhanced integration functionality with 

Autodesk Revit. 

At the seminar, Tedds 2013, the major new release of the 

structural calculation software, will also be presented. The 

software features many exciting new calculations and a 2D 

frame analysis application. 

Delegates will also see how they can achieve fast and economical 

steel designs using the new release of Fastrak v15. 

More information on CSC can be obtained, and registration 

for the seminar can be done, by visiting CSC’s website 

(www.cscworld.sg). 


For more information or to subscribe, call 6469 5000. 


47

NEWS 

Public sector projects to boost construction 

demand in 2013 

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) projects a 

strong construction demand of between S$ 26 billion and S$ 32 

billion for 2013, anchored by public sector projects. This comes 

on the heels of the sector’s strong performance in 2012, where 

total construction demand was sustained at a healthy S$ 28.1 

billion. The projected demand of S$ 26 billion to S$ 32 billion for 

2013 also refl ects a continued and sustained level of workload 

for the next few years. 

Outlook for 2013 

Public sector demand is expected to strengthen signifi cantly 

this year, contributing about 53% of the industry demand, or S$ 

14 billion to S$ 17 billion, boosted by stronger public housing 

and infrastructure construction works. The higher public sector 

demand is due to the continued ramping up of public housing 

and rail construction. Other than public housing projects, major 

public sector projects likely to be awarded in 2013 include: 

• Nanyang Technological University’s Undergraduate Halls of 

Residence at Nanyang Avenue/Crescent. 

• Energy Market Authority’s fourth storage tank at the liquefi ed 

natural gas (LNG) terminal in Jurong Island. 

• JTC’s very large fl oating structure (VLFS) at Pulau Sebarok. 

• Land Transport Authority’s various construction contracts for 

the Thomson MRT Line. 

• Land Transport Authority’s expansion of Kallang Paya Lebar 

Expressway (KPE) / Tampines Expressway (TPE) Interchange. 

Private sector demand for 2013 

BCA expects private sector construction demand to moderate 

to S$ 12 billion to S$ 15 billion in 2013, in light of slower domestic 

economic growth and continued global economic uncertainties. 

The private sector is likely to take a more cautious stance in 

terms of new construction investments. Private residential 

construction demand is projected to continue softening in view 

of the anticipated continued slow economic growth in 2013, 

coupled with the signifi cant supply of completed housing units 

over the next few years. 

Forecast for 2014 and 2015 

For 2014 and 2015, the average construction demand 

is projected to be S$ 20 billion to S$ 28 billion per annum. 

Demand forecast beyond the immediate one year will be done 

on a rolling basis, to take into account subsequent changes in 

economic outlook and other pertinent factors. 

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this projection is plausible 

in view of the strong pipeline of housing and infrastructure 

construction projects planned by the government to meet the 

needs of the population, despite the anticipated lower economic 

growth rate in the coming years. 

Total preliminary construction output (progress payments made 

for work done) is estimated to be about S$ 31 billion in 2012, 

about 7% higher than the volume in 2011 and comparable to 

2009’s record high volume. Construction output is measured by 

total value of certifi ed progress payments. 

The high level of contracts awarded in 2011 and the sustained 

levels of demand in 2012-2013 are expected to translate into a 

lot of on-site construction activities at least over the next one 

to two years. Total construction output is projected to rise to S$ 

31 billion to S$ 33 billion in 2013 before moderating to S$ 22 

billion to S$ 30 billion per year in 2014-2015. 

New manpower development programmes 

Given the robust outlook for the built environment sector, 

BCA is partnering the industry to initiate programmes for 

developing the manpower required to meet the strong 

construction demand. In addition to the current BCA- 

Industry undergraduate scholarship, diploma scholarship and 

sponsorship and apprenticeship programmes, BCA is rolling 

out two new manpower development programmes - the 

full-time undergraduate sponsorship programme and the ITE 

scholarship programme. 

The new undergraduate sponsorship programme is open to 

local undergraduates taking full-time built environment degree 

courses. A student under this new programme will receive an 

attractive sponsorship sum of S$ 10,000 per year. 

On the technical education front, full-time students studying at 

ITEs can benefi t from the new ITE scholarship programme. The 

scholarship will cover the full course fees and provide a monthly 

allowance of S$ 500 - an attractive sum for the students. 

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 

CRESTRON –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –– PAGE 7 

ICHEME ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– PAGE 43 

INFOCOM & SECURITY SYSTEMS ––––––– –––– PAGE 9 

MANCHESTER –––––––––––– – OUTSIDE BACK COVER 

BUSINESS SCHOOL 

MAPEI FAR EAST ––––––––––––––––––––––––– PAGE 33 

MDIS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– PAGE 5 

NEWCASTLE ––––––––––––––– INSIDE BACK COVER 

UNIVERSITY 

NYC SYSTEM ENGINEERING –––––––––––––– PAGE 39 

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS –––––––– INSIDE FRONT COVER 

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS –––––––––– –––– – PAGE 10 & 11 

SAA GLOBAL EDUCATION CENTRE ––––––––– PAGE 3 

SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ––– PAGE 15 

TAYLOR & FRANCIS ––––––––––––––––– PAGE 25 & 27 

WORLD ENGINEERS’ SUMMIT 2013 ––––––––– PAGE 29

civil & structural engineering - Institution of Engineers Singapore

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