International Conference and Exhibition on Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology 7-9 March 2006, Subang, Selangor, MALAYSIA

PIPEJACKING FOR SEWER NETWORKS ON THE NATIONAL SEWERAGE PROJECT PHASE 1 PACKAGE 1 Adrian Dobbie-Holman Shimizu Corporation ABSTRACT The first phase of a major sewerage project is currently being undertaken by Shimizu-Road Builder-Hitachi Plant JV in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, for the Government. The Sewer Networks consist of over 13km of new trunk sewers and sewer diversions in the Dang Wangi, Brickfields, Petaling Jaya, Old Klang Road, Damansara and Puchong areas (Figure 1). Due to a combination of space constraints, heavy traffic conditions and authority conditions in response to increasing awareness of the social costs of more traditional methods, the pipejacking method has been specified to install most of these sewers. 15No remote-control slurry-system TBMs and 3No open-face shields for manual excavation will be used to install HDPE-lined reinforced concrete pipes, from 300mm to 1800mm internal diameter. This is the biggest and most complex pipejacking project ever undertaken in Malaysia. Following six-months of planning and investigations, pipejacking started in July 2004 and is expected to be completed in late-2006.

Dang Wangi

Damansara

Brickfields

Petaling Jaya Old Klang Road KEY Sewer Network Puchong Trunk Sewer

Figure 1 Location Map

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INTRODUCTION This paper will cover the many technical aspects of the project. It will include an overview of the sewer alignment and then move on to soil investigation, jacking pipe design and pipejacking equipment selection. Construction then follows, focussing on the pipejacking equipment and process and including other important factors such as safety, utilities, soil stabilisation, shaft construction and instrumentation. It concludes with an overview of the success of the application of modern trenchless technology, and how the difficulties encountered have been overcome. 1 ALIGNMENT

The existing sewer system for a large portion of KL was built in the 1950s. One major 1.5m trunk sewer runs along the flood channel of the Klang River, through the city centre to the existing Pantai Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). This sewer has become blocked and damaged in places and is heavily overloaded. This has resulted in untreated sewage overflowing into the river. Phase 1 is divided into several sub-projects. The Pantai Trunk Sewer is a sub-project consisting of a new 5km long segmental tunnel sewer, 2.5m and 2.8m internally, which will carry sewage to the Pantai STP, the upgrading and expansion of which forms another sub-project. The Pantai Sewer Network sub-project, totalling around 13km in length, consists of the following five sections: Dang Wangi Sewer Diversion Brickfields Sewer Diversion Petaling Jaya Trunk Sewer Damansara Sewer Diversion Old Klang Road Trunk Sewer

With the exception of Damansara, all the above sewers connect into the new Trunk Sewer. The Sewer Diversions will intercept the existing sewer branches before they reach the existing 1.5m trunk and divert the flow into the new Trunk Sewer. The main purpose of the Petaling Jaya (PJ) and Old Klang Road (OKR) Sewers is to provide a point to which future diversion projects in those areas will be directed. The Puchong Sewer Network sub-project includes around 2km of pipejacking and will divert the existing flows at several small local STPs into a an existing pumping station. Initial soil investigations were carried out in 2001. This information helped the designers determine suitable manhole locations, and therefore pipejacking lengths. 80

International Conference and Exhibition on Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology 7-9 March 2006, Subang, Selangor, MALAYSIA

Local authorities in Malaysia are increasingly specifying that trenchless methods are adopted for new works. This is the case for this project, and therefore pipejacking was specified for the majority of the Sewer Networks. In any case, the depth of the sewers (up to 21m, but typically 5-13m) and the congested nature of the urban environment would make open-cut methods impractical and/or prohibitively expensive. See Figure 2.

Figure 2 A Jacking Shaft in Dang Wangi, KL city centre.

Several curved alignments with radii as low as 200m are required to thread past a variety of subsurface structures supporting elevated road, rail and light transit systems. There are several drives 250-340m long. The longest is a 371m long 1800mm curved drive in Dang Wangi. This will be the longest pipejack ever to have been carried out in Malaysia. 2 SOIL INVESTIGATION

The KL area in general consists of Kenny Hill formation sedimentary deposits. This is mudstone, shale, phyllite and sandstone, usually weathered into silt, sand and clay residual soils of a varying depth and mixture. This is overlaid by relatively thick alluvial deposits composed of soft clay, silt, loose to medium dense sand and gravel. Fill exposed to the ground surface overlays these deposits. Groundwater levels are typically 2-4m below ground but this varies according to rainfall. The initial soil investigation boreholes were carried out using multi-speed rotary boring machines. Standard Penetration Tests to BS1377 were done at 1 to 1.5m intervals, using split81

International Conference and Exhibition on Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology 7-9 March 2006, Subang, Selangor, MALAYSIA

barrel samplers. A wide variety of soil conditions were discovered, including sand, silt, clay, gravels, limestone, sandstone, quartzite, shale and granite. To verify these conditions and to obtain further data Shimizu chose to carry out 35No further boreholes. 3 JACKING PIPE DESIGN

Pipe diameters on the project vary from 225mm to 1800mm. Vitrified clay and reinforced concrete jacking pipes were specified for small and large diameters respectively. However, due to concerns regarding quality and handling and the number of relatively long drives (up to 122m) it was agreed to use reinforced concrete for all diameters. All pipes are designed and manufactured to BS5911and are being supplied by manufacturers in Johor Bahru and Ipoh. See Figure 3

Figure 3 1200mm ID RC Jacking Pipes

Maximum expected jacking loads were calculated using the method from the 2000 edition of the Japan Sewage Works Association Standard. The maximum allowable jacking load of the largest 1800mm pipes, with a barrel thickness of 160mm, is 1600t. Concrete grade is 50 or 60N/mm. The pipes are typically 3m long however for curved drives shorter pipes will be used to maintain a maximum angular deflection of 0.5 at each joint in accordance with The Pipejacking Association guidelines. This is to prevent an excessive concentration of jacking load on the pipe joint face. The flexible pipe joints consist of a cast-in grade-316 stainless steel external collar. Finned natural rubber ring seals provide water tightness and are applied to the spigot end of the pipes before the pipes are joined in the jacking shaft. Pipes over 900mm have a 1.5mm thick HDPE lining bonded to the concrete using an anchor knob system. The HDPE is applied to 330 of the pipe internal circumference, with the invert (30) unlined. Pipes below 900mm diameter have a 38mm sacrificial concrete lining. This is because man-entry into pipes of this size, for plastic welding at the joints, is not allowed.

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All pipes greater than 900mm diameter also included 3No lubrication and grouting ports. Both vertical wet-casting and pipe spinning methods were used for manufacture. 4 PIPEJACKING EQUIPMENT SELECTION

The most important consideration when selecting pipejacking equipment is that the TBM must be well-suited to the ground conditions. The choice of methods for spoil transportation and separation is also important. Other considerations include availability, speed, cost and minimum shaft size. With the exception of connections into existing sewer manholes and a small number of drives less than 30m in length, slurry systems will be used. 4.1 Overview of Modern Remote-Controlled Slurry-System Pipejacking

Although the systems used on the project were from four different manufacturers from Europe (Herrenknecht and MTS) and Japan (Rasa and Iseki), they all share many similar fundamental characteristics. See Figure 4. Each system comprises the following component parts: TBM Jacking Frame Circulating slurry system (pipes, pumps and pit bypass valve) Control Cabin Guidance laser Hydraulic Power Pack Generator Soil Separation Plant Lubrication Plant

Figure 4 Typical Remote-Control Slurry System Pipejacking (Schematic)

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To complete the entire process, product pipes, lifting equipment and spoil removal trucks are required. The selected TBMs are all characterised by a rotating cutting face forming the front of a cone-shaped slurry chamber, through which excavated material passes into the slurry pipes to be transported to the surface for separation. The face cutting tools can include teeth, scrapers, discs and rollers. Excavated material is crushed as it passes through a gap between the rotating shaft and the cone. In Iseki Unclemole heads, the cutting head travels along a trochoidal path. In the MTS2000 system used in Dang Wangi, it is possible to move the crusher cone forwards and backwards to adjust the crusher gap size to suit varying ground conditions. The shields are articulated, enabling them to be steered horizontally and vertically. Three or four hydraulic steering jacks are common. The jacks are fixed across the articulation point allowing the operator to control the direction of the shield. The sewer alignment tolerance for the project is 75mm horizontally and 25mm vertically and this is achievable under normal circumstances. The OD of the shields is greater than that of the pipes. This is to create an annular space around the pipes, to reduce friction, and on larger diameters, to allow the injection of a lubricant. This overcut, typically 10-20mm, is very important. It is created initially by the perimeter cutting tools of the TBM. It is therefore very important that the over-cutting ability of these teeth is maintained for the entire drive. On one drive in OKR, TBM1200#1 experienced unusually high jacking pressures early on in the drive. It then encountered hard sandstone and at a chainage of 154m the jacking force became so high that the drive could not continue. The TBM was recovered and it was found that the perimeter teeth had worn away to the extent that no overcut was being created. Stability of the soil face is provided by a system of pressurised slurry. The slurry used can be water but additives such as bentonite or polymer are often added for improved performance. Slurry is circulated to and from the TBM using charge and discharge pipes, typically 3-6. Flow is provided by a charge pump at the surface and a discharge pump in the thrust shaft. A bypass valve in the TBM just behind the face allows the slurry circulation to be maintained whilst excavation has stopped. The pressure of the slurry is maintained at a level to suit the soil conditions and water pressure. The pressure must be high enough to prevent collapse of the face into the face chamber, which might cause surface settlement, or block the slurry pipes, and low enough not to cause heave or excessive loss of slurry. The slurry pressure is measured by gauges in the chamber and displayed in the control cabin. The excavated material is brought to the surface by the discharge slurry lines, and processed in the soil separation plant. The purpose of soil separation is to remove the excavated material from the slurry, so that the slurry can be re-circulated. This reduces water-use and minimises the volume of material to be removed from the site. Separation equipment includes settlement tanks; trommel systems, screens, shakers and hydrocyclones.

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Control cabins contain consoles from which the systems are operated and monitored. Information from the TBM is relayed via CCTV (Iseki and Rasa) or via computerized systems (MTS and Herrenknecht). The major features are as follows: TBM Steering Jacks Alignment of TBM (horizontal/vertical) TBM Pitch/Roll Cutter Torque and Rotation Direction TBM Bypass and Stop Valve indicators Face Pressure Slurry Flow rate Slurry Pressure Main and Inter-jacks - Force/Pressure/Stroke Length Jacking Speed

With the advent of computerised systems, and in particular when automatic lubrication systems are used, and complex alignment guidance systems, the control cabins can resemble airliner cockpits.

5 5.1

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

Safety first! The major hazards associated with pipejacking can be summarised as follows: HAZARD Ground collapse Falls from height Confined spaces Lifting operations Traffic Poor access PREVENTATIVE MEASURE Temporary Works Design, Soil Stabilisation, Shield Handrails, Ladders, Baskets Ventilation Planning, Management, Supervision Barriers, Signs, Signals Planning, housekeeping

One purpose of the project was the transfer of technology and experience from the foreign management to the Malaysian project management and personnel. This included safety aspects. Shimizu therefore sought to ensure that safety standards on the project were of a level higher than that normally practiced in Malaysia. After a short learning curve, and combined with regular meetings, tool-box talks, training and management safety patrols, this goal was achieved. 5.2 UTILITY DIVERSIONS

In many cases, utility diversions had to be carried out before shaft construction could commence. Due to the lack of availability of accurate records and the relative unreliability of surface-based

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detection it became apparent that trial trenching should be carried out at each shaft location to determine the exact location of utilities. In Dang Wangi, oil-filled 33kV electricity cables had to be diverted. As these cables are no longer commonly-used, custom-made joints had to be fabricated in Holland, to join the existing cable to the modern XLPE type. This work delayed shaft construction by many months. 5.3 SHAFT CONSTRUCTION

110 No launch and receiving shafts were required. Three different shaft construction methods were adopted to allow for varying soil conditions, site physical constraints, environmental considerations and availability of materials. They are steel-sheet piled (rectangular), cast in-situ reinforced concrete caissons (circular) and finally a composite of the former two methods. Initially, two main shaft methods were selected - steel-sheet piles for shallow shafts (up to 9m deep typically), and cast in-situ concrete caissons for deep shafts (typically 9m to 25m). However, during the construction of the first few caissons in the PJ area, difficulties were encountered at depths of around 5-7m with the relatively soft ground collapsing into the excavation. In one case, as the excavated face could not remain stable in the time between excavation and the placement of reinforcing mesh, formwork and concrete, casting could not proceed. Grouting was carried out to stabilise the soil and the shaft was completed successfully. In the next two shafts, groundwater flow behind rings cast at a higher level created voids behind the shaft. The reduction in friction caused one of the shafts to settle approximately 200mm. Again grouting was carried out, and ring height reduced from 900mm to 500mm. The shaft was completed but not before losing valuable time. Shimizu therefore decided to construct some shafts using a combination of sheet-piles at shallow depths, and cast in-situ rings thereafter. This method has now been used successfully for a number of shafts. To minimise the consumption of sheet-piles another method was adopted. This involved driving a ring of sheet piles around the external diameter of the caisson, and then constructing the in-situ caisson within the protective piled curtain. Once hard ground was encountered, the piles were removed and made available for other shafts. This development led to the caisson method also being adopted for some shallow shafts. 5.4 SOIL STABILISATION

In many areas soil stabilisation was required during shaft construction and TBM launch and reception. This sometimes involved physical soil support in the form of sheet-piles, for example a secondary ring of sheet piles around a shaft as in 5.3 above, or a temporary row of sheet piles in front of the TBM before launching, allowing the piles of the launch eye to be cut away safely. However in most cases grouting, including jet grouting, was carried out, using cement or cement/bentonite mixes. This was required mainly in sandy soil conditions at depths of 4-7m, above the residual soil strata. In Puchong jet grouting had to be carried out for launch and reception of the 1500mm and 750mm TBMs for most drives. At one sheet-piled shaft in particular Shimizu encountered great difficulty in controlling water-bearing sand from boiling up

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from underneath the piles. In Dang Wangi, chemical grouting using sodium silicate and aluminium sulphate is being used for a shallow (4m cover) man-shield excavation to an existing manhole, where high groundwater flows were encountered. Similar ground water conditions were experienced at other shafts in this area. 5.5 PIPEJACKING

The extent of the project is using almost all of the pipejacking systems available in Malaysia, with additional machines being brought from Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. In line with the soil conditions, a variety of TBM cutter head configurations were required. Due to the size and complexity of the project, Shimizu engaged a number of management and technical staff with extensive pipejacking experience, from Japan and Europe, to assist the local specialist contractors. Initial planning determined that 12No TBMs would be needed to complete the project with in the 30-month contract period. This included 6No TBMs 750(mm) and below, 1No 1200, 2No 1500s and 2No 1800s. Later, TBM resources had to be increased to 15No as of November 2005 the equipment mobilised included: 1No Iseki TCC 300 (Puchong) 1No Iseki TCC 600 (OKR) 1No Rasa DH 600 (PJ) 1No Iseki TCS 800 (Puchong) 1No Rasa DH 1200 (OKR) 1No Herrenknecht AVN 1200 (OKR) 1No Rasa DH 1350 (OKR) 2No Rasa DH 1500 (PJ and Puchong) 1No Herrenknecht AVN 1800 (Dang Wangi) 1No MTS 2000 (Dang Wangi) 3No Open-face manual-excavation shields (PJ, Dang Wangi, Puchong)

The 3No open face manual excavation shields (1500mm and 1800mm) will be used for a handful of short drives (less than 30m) to allow the slurry TBMs to concentrate on longer drives, where they are more efficient. Pipejacking commenced at the end of July 2004, in Petaling Jaya, where a new Rasa DH1500 TBM was launched.

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Figure 5 The Rasa DH1500 TBM used in Petaling Jaya

This 2120mm OD TBM (Figure 5) is suitable for mixed ground conditions (soft ground, gravel, boulders, soft rock). The face was originally had an open area of 40% but due to the soft ground conditions this was reduced by the addition of steel face plates. The crusher gap was increased and a water jet added to prevent the chamber and crusher gap becoming clogged with clay. The 3.1m long TBM is powered 3No 22kW cutter head drive motors, providing a torque of 334kNm. Steering capability is provided by 4No 50mm stroke 750kN jacks. 4No main jacks with a capacity of 200t each were used. A manually controlled lubrication system was operated. Soil separation was carried out using screens, shakers and settlement tanks. The first drive was completed successfully on 2nd September 2004. The 146m-long 1500mm drive achieved an average of over 6m per day, with the best production of 15m in one day shift. Use of a polymer lubricant kept jacking pressures down to just over 300 tonnes. Towards the end of this drive the TBM encountered a pocket of what appeared to be construction waste. Tiles, concrete rubble, steel wire, timber and nuts and bolts were all retrieved from the slurry pipes. This slowed progress but fortunately the TBM crusher and slurry system were able to cope with out any major problems. Similar conditions were encountered by this TBM in September 2005 during a curved drive at a depth of 12m, which passed close to 4No bored pile foundations for elevated highway structures. Despite having to stop jacking several times to clear slurry pipe and bypass valve blockages caused by steel wire and bars, the drive was completed successfully. This TBM has now completed a total of 1,583m at an average jacking rate of almost 7m per day (single shift). A similar Rasa TBM in Puchong has achieved 5m per day in difficult water-bearing sandy conditions. The two manual excavation tunnels carried out so far, 12m and 25m long, have achieved advance rates of 2m per day. With smaller diameters, single-shift advance rates have been higher, almost 9m per day for 375mm in OKR and 11m per day for 300mm in Puchong. The 600mm TBMs in PJ and OKR have achieved average rates of just below 8m per day. 88

International Conference and Exhibition on Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology 7-9 March 2006, Subang, Selangor, MALAYSIA

Diameter (mm) 300 375 600 1500 (PJ) 1500 (Puchong) Manual (1500)

Average Daily Production (m) 11 9 8 7 5 2

For long drives, intermediate jacking stations (inter-jacks) were used, to reduce the maximum jacking force applied to the pipes. These consisted of specially-manufactured pairs of pipes, one with what is effectively an over-long steel collar (female pipe), and one with an extended spigot end to accommodate this collar (male pipe). A ring of hydraulic jacks are placed within the collar of the female pipe. Once installed, these jacks are extended to move the pipeline ahead of the jacks forward. Once the stroke is complete, the main jacks then close the gap. Once the TBM has been removed and the pipeline pushed into final position, the inter-jacks are removed and the inter-jack pipes closed. Until now a maximum of 2No inter-jacks have been installed in a single drive. This was a 338m drive in Petaling Jaya, where jacking pressures reached 700t. Only one inter-jack was actually used. The original alignment included several curved drives. As detailed planning progressed, curved drives were eliminated where possible, to save time, avoid having to produce a greater number of shorter pipes, and to simplify the construction process.

Figure 6 High-density Polystyrene Packers for Curves

In curved pipejacking, load distribution across the pipe joint faces is extremely important as the loads concentrate on the joint face on the inside of the curve. The load must be distributed well to prevent failure of the joint face. For straight drives it is common to use 10-20mm thick plywood, chipboard or MDF packers applied to the full circumference of each joint face using a contact adhesive. MDF is considered to be one of the best materials and can be used even for curved drives. However on this project the J-Curve system, developed in Japan, was

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employed. This consisted of two high density (i.e. non-expanded) polystyrene quarter-circle packers, placed centrally over the crown and invert of the pipe face, allow pressure to be distributed whilst creating a gap at each side of the joints to allow angular deflection to take place without creating load concentrations that may lead to failure. See Figure 6. As lasers only travel in straight lines, guidance of the TBM becomes far more complex once it is not visible along a straight line from the thrust shaft. This is the case in most curved drives. Various guidance methods are available. The simplest, cheapest and most time-consuming is to simply manually survey the TBM location at intervals and advise the operator, who will decide on any necessary steering adjustments. This method was carried out successfully for the first curved drive in Petaling Jaya. Figure 7 shows pipe No75 of this drive, including a 200m horizontal curve, being jacked.

Figure 7 Curved Pipejacking underway in Petaling Jaya The two main modern advanced methods of guidance involve either gyrocompasses or a series of lasers and targets. With gyro systems, the precise bearing of the TBM is measured by a magnetic-north seeking gyrocompass. Combined with the distance travelled, measured by a wheel placed above the pipe in the thrust shaft, and a water-hose level measuring system, the exact x.y.z co-ordinate and heading of the TBM is known. The other system involves a series of laser theodolites and targets located in the shaft, TBM and tunnel. Both systems are computerised and provide the operator with continuous alignment information. All data is logged continuously. In Dang Wangi the MTS200 TBM uses a series of lasers and theodolite developed by VMT GmbH in Germany. The manual-excavation shields each consist of a simple open-face steel cutting edge with the facility to insert steering jacks if necessary. One such shield for connections to existing manholes consists of 3No 120 sections bolted together, to enable it to be removed through the tunnel once the target manhole has been reached. Spoil removal consists of a wheeled tipping cart, loaded manually and lifted by crane into a dump truck at the surface. These shields have successfully carried out three drives, independently of the slurry TBMs, in a short time period and have proved to be invaluable resources. 90

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The sewer route includes at least 6No river crossings. In Dang Wangi, at a particularly busy area of the city and close to some of KLs most important landmarks and tourist destinations, there are two river crossings, with a cover of 2-3m from the river bed to the crown of the pipes. As the Klang and Gombak rivers pass through the city, a central river channel has been constructed using steel sheet-piles or precast-concrete L-shaped panels. A higher and wider flood channel has been created, using similar precast panels, or cast in-situ retaining walls, some piled and some L or T shaped. Shimizu discovered that the sewer would clash with the central channel sheet piles at one of the two crossings. As the sewer could not be lowered sufficiently to avoid the clash, it was necessary to lift up the sheet piles. This was done using an excavator-mounted vibro-hammer. Unfortunately some of the piles could not be removed using this method. It is therefore necessary to construct a temporary caisson shaft behind the central channel wall, to provide access the sheet-piles at the level of the crown of the sewer pipe. The piles would then be cut and the lower sections extracted. The temporary shaft will then be backfilled and the slab reinstated, following some strengthening works to the shortened sheet-piles. Where it was possible to extract the piles from the surface, and because no as-built records are available, horizontal probing will be carried out to verify that the piles have been extracted sufficiently. Further downstream a second river crossing has been attempted. In this case Shimizu was confident that the sewer did not clash with the centre-channel walls. TBM1800#2 successfully passed under the river, despite damaged slurry pumps and roller bits and numerous blockages caused by a variety of unusual materials, including reinforced concrete, ceramics, ammunition, steel fragments etc, being encountered. Unfortunately, after passing beneath the far-side of the river, and still some 10-15m from the receiving shaft the TBM encountered a reinforced concrete object which halted progress. Investigations to discover the source of this obstruction have yet to begin but the options being considered are (a) construct a manual-excavation tunnel from the receiving shaft over the stricken TBM or (b) dig down to the cutter face and remove the obstruction or repair the cutter face to enable the drive to re-commence. There have been other cases of TBMs progress being halted by obstructions. In Puchong, an area known to include backfilled mine-shafts, an Iseki TCC300 TBM has twice encountered debris including solid reinforced concrete objects, steel, plastic and rubber. In Old Klang Road, a similar Iseki TCC600 encountered a series of timber piles and the horizontal alignment of the tunnel could not be controlled. In both cases the TBMs were pulled back into the shafts using the slurry system to grout the resultant void in front of the head. 6.6 INSTRUMENTATION AND MONITORING

Before any shaft construction or pipejacking commenced, a detailed Instrumentation & Monitoring Plan was implemented. For surface settlement monitoring, a series of 5 points at 5m centres was set up at 10m intervals along the centreline of the pipes. Similar grids were set up around shafts. Monitoring was carried out daily. Where required due to the presence of slopes or adjacent structures, inclinometers were installed to monitor lateral ground movements. Standpipes were also installed at most shafts to monitor groundwater levels. At the three railway

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crossings, one of which has a depth of cover of only 3.5m, adhesive targets will be placed on the rails to enable surveying to be carried out remotely.

CONCLUSIONS

Due to the rapid development of KL in the two to three years between the tender and construction stages of this project, the greatest and most time-consuming initial challenges were finalising the sewer alignments and obtaining all the necessary approvals to commence work. Some major route revisions were necessary. At the time of these revisions, technical and commercial risk levels had already been assessed and sub-contracts placed so the number and type of pipejacking resources available was limited. The revised alignments were therefore formulated to match the anticipated risks and the capabilities of the available resources as much as possible. In normal circumstances this would not be the case. With the use of inter-jacks drive lengths are only really limited by the impracticality of working along a long tunnel with only one point of access. Drives over 2,000m have been achieved. TBMs can be made to suit any pipe diameter up to a size where segmental tunnelling becomes more practical and cutter heads to suit any ground conditions are available. With modern guidance systems complex alignments with multiple horizontal and vertical curves with radii as small as 15m are possible. Once construction has started, the greatest difficulties have been associated with shaft construction through relatively soft water-bearing soils, unforeseen ground conditions such as those encountered in Puchong, OKR and PJ, and loss of soil stability upon TBM launch and reception. Shaft construction problems have been overcome by the use of soil stabilisation methods, and the resultant delays have generally been eliminated as the TBMs have all greatly exceeded the conservative production rates on which the works schedule was based. In cases where drives have been halted by obstructions, the TBMs have been successfully retracted. There are now options available to resolve the problems such as modifying the cutter heads, using different TBMs or changing the sewer alignment. In the absence of unexpected ground conditions, the TBMs are able to perform well and can install pipelines quickly, with little disruption compared to open-trench methods, and in cases where such methods would not be possible, such as in busy urban areas, and under major roads, rivers and railways. Over 7km of sewers have been successfully installed so far. However it must be said that to make best use of modern equipment and to avoid unnecessary delays and costs, the following is required: Careful planning Well-maintained equipment Correct equipment selection, particularly cutter-head configuration Experienced, competent supervision and operation staff Highly-accurate setting-out and surveying.

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This paper cannot speculate as to the use of sewer rehabilitation methods as an alternative to pipejacking for this project. Certainly for installing new sewers in urban conditions, at the required depths and diameters, there is no practical alternative to trenchless excavation methods. As the rapid development of cities like KL and awareness of the benefits of trenchless methods improves, demand will increase. This should lead to increased competition amongst contractors, thereby lowering costs. With the concurrent development of contractors experience, and of the technologies involved, the demand for and success of trenchless technologies for such applications can only increase. 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Shimizu wish to thank Mr Takeshi Saito (Kejuruteraan Bintai Kindenko) and Mr Kuniaki Onishi (NJS Consultants) for their help in providing technical details and background information. Shimizu also wishes to thank the Sewerage Services Department and NJS Consultants for permission to publish this paper.

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