Student Visit To Penta-Ocean Construction

On 3 August 2013, Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd – the main contractor for the construction of the underground Bendemeer Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Station on the Downtown Line 3 – hosted a group of 30 SIM University (UniSIM) staff and students from the Bachelor of Building and Project Management (BBPM), Bachelor of Science in Facilities and Events Management (BFEM) and Bachelor of Science in Human Factors in Safety (BHFSY) programmes. Prior to the MRT project, this leading Japan-based construction company had participated in the building of iconic landmarks in Singapore, including the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, ION Orchard and Marina Bay Sands.

The participants were treated to a presentation by the Bendemeer MRT Station project's planning manager, Mr Nawal Jaggi, who is also an associate in the BBPM programme. He presented on the construction methods and risk and safety management strategies for the project. The students were also taken on a guided tour of the site and given the opportunity to see a tunnel boring machine.

This experience allowed the students to have a sense of the real challenges that managers and contractors face in large-scale projects. Mr Ivan Lim, a BFEM student, said: "This visit is an eye-opener and a chance not to be missed. I learnt much about the processes and technologies used in a tunnelling project."

_{Mr Nawal Jaggi describing how the tunnel boring machine works to UniSIM staff and students using a scale model.}