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  Today Online 28 Jul 07
A city below the city
Government explores a uniquely Singaporean solution to space concerns
Johnson Choo johnsonchoo@mediacorp.com.sg

Singapore has claimed many firsts. Now, studies underway to test the feasibility of creating a city deep underground to keep pace with the country's growth could make Singapore truly unique.

While huge and deep underground caverns are used in many other countries, those are mainly for specific needs such as storage, recreation or security.

According to industry sources, government agencies, including JTC, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Land Transport Authority are exploring the feasibility of creating caverns for living.

This could double the amount of useable space.

According to Professor Zhao Jian, a professor of rock mechanics and tunnelling with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, the potential for space underground is "almost limitless … (although) they are particularly useful for any facilities that are not desirable at surface level, for example, sewage treatment plants, or facilities requiring good protection and insulation like military installations, oil and gas, and cold storage."

Prof Zhao said there is no existing model for such developments even though "in some countries and cities, there are extensive usage of caverns and tunnels. They, however, do not face crucial difficulties in terms of space, as in Singapore."

The idea of underground space isn't new to Singaporeans, as there are underground MRT stations and shopping malls. These are typically about 30m below the surface.

Future subterranean developments could go beyond 150m, depending on the location and suitability of the underground rock layer.

While Singapore is still decades away from such a vision, the first civilian-use caverns will be ready by end-2010. This is when the first two of the five caverns under the $2-billion Jurong Rock Cavern project will be ready.

These are directly beneath the Banyan Logistics Park on Jurong Island, occupied mainly by petrochemical companies with many surface tanks that occupy a lot of real estate.

After a plan in the late 1990s to construct a Science City — a mixed-use commercial development below Science Park 2 — was derailed by cost considerations, JTC decided to explore further, said Mr Png Giok Hua, director of Engineering Planning Group with JTC Corporation.

"It would be good to store hydrocarbons in caverns and release surface land for other uses like manufacturing which is higher in value than storage," said Mr Png. "Going underground also enhances the area as a logistics hub. There will be some synergy with the activities above land."

In 2001, together with NTU, JTC surveyed the rock geology in Singapore's western region and found the Banyan Basin area suitable, Mr Png said.

When ready, the Jurong Rock Cavern project will free up about 60ha of surface land space, a size equal to 60 football fields.

Prof Zhao, a Singaporean academic who led early feasibility studies on cavern development in Singapore, urges the development of caverns for public use.

"We need to show the public the correct and positive image of underground caverns. The best way to show a positive image is to build caverns for the public to experience it themselves."
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