Undersjøiske berghaller i Singapore – Bergmekaniske utfordringer = Subsea rock caverns in Singapore – rock mechanical challenges

Abstract

At the Jurong Rock Caverns Project 9 subsea caverns are built under the Banyan basin at the Jurong Island Singapore. The JRC-project is the first commercial underground rock cavern storage facility for hydrocarbons in Southeast Asia, and was officially opened on 2nd of September 2014. The rock caverns have a total storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic meters; the caverns freed up 60 hectares of surface land for higher-value facilities. This is very important for Singapore since they have limited space available. The builder and owner of the JRC-project is Jurong Town Cooperation, and for this project the STM Consortium (SINTEF, Tritech and Multiconsult) has been responsible for project management and technical followup on behalf of JRC. The geological conditions are described as basis for understanding the challenges met during excavation of two vertical access shafts and water inflow. Design and rock support are described as well as a brief description of the site investigations carried out.