R&D facilities, data centres could be located under Kent Ridge Park: Study
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 12 Nov 12;
SINGAPORE'S first underground science city could have 40 linked rock caverns for research and development (R&D) facilities and data centres, a feasibility study has found.
These would be located under Kent Ridge Park in the west and up to 4,200 scientists, researchers and other professionals could work in them.
Some findings of the study - commissioned by the Government in 2009 and completed in March this year - were presented here last week during the 13th World Conference of Associated Research Centres for Urban Underground Space.
Experts at the event said other underground projects were feasible here, including a landfill to contain about 40 years' worth of rubbish.
Two papers from the science-city study presented last week focused on the technical feasibility and did not estimate cost.
Asked about the project's future, a spokesman for government industrial landlord JTC Corporation said it is studying the findings.
In 1999, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) studied the possibility of an underground science city which would connect three above-ground science parks in the area.
Although it concluded it was possible and published a report in 2001, the idea did not pick up steam until 2008 when JTC said it was exploring concepts for an underground science city and an underground warehouse.
The latest study, by a Swiss-Singapore consortium of two firms, built upon NTU's findings. The consortium came up with a design for 40 linked rock caverns, each about 25m high and with a cross-section of about 500 sq m. In total, the caverns would have 192,000 sq m of rentable space across three or four levels, about twice VivoCity's retail space.
The study recommended using the caverns for IT, biotechnology and life sciences R&D as well as data centres.
If other uses are considered, they should benefit from the caverns' natural advantages, said the authors. The caverns are free of noise and vibration from surface activities, such as construction, and can be "easily sealed off" to limit the fall-out of dangerous work.
The study recommended safety guidelines and ways to make the caverns comfortable. These include a fresh-air and smoke-control system, main concourse with socialising spaces and lighting that simulates daylight.
Four engineers here who have worked on or done research on underground projects told The Straits Times that below-ground offices are as safe as those on the surface.
"Providing water and electricity (to underground offices) would be similar to what we already do for some retail shops under the surface," said Mr Niu Jianxin, managing director of GeoAlliance Consultants.
The challenges are cost, with underground construction about four times pricier than for surface projects, and the need to conduct extensive site investigations and provide leeway for changes.
"Above-ground power and water facilities are easy to change or replace. This is much more inconvenient for facilities below ground," said NTU's Assistant Professor Louis Wong, an expert in rock mechanics and underground engineering.
The engineers said stringent engineering and emergency safety codes could allay most fears.
Singapore can also study the experiences of nations such as Japan, which has built underground shopping districts, they added.
