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A Singapore Landmark, Built on Ssangyong E&C Engineering Excellence
A 27-Month Miracle that Rewrote Architectural History
12 Million Man-Hours Recorded Without a Single Accident

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is an iconic symbol of Singapore, brought to life by the vision and advanced construction skills of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction (Ssangyong E&C). It comprises three towers above basement levels, and 57 upper floors offering a total of 2,511 guest rooms, all crowned by the renowned SkyPark at the summit.

Poised approximately 200 meters above ground, the SkyPark is about twice the size of a football pitch and incorporates gardens, walking trails, restaurants, a spa, a swimming pool, and a world-famous observation deck, one of the largest in the world. With capacity for 900 people, the cantilever structure extends to approximately 70 meters beyond the edge of the tower below, comparable in length to a Boeing 747, and projects 200 meters into open air space without any visible means of support. This striking design element is, in itself, a leading visitor attraction for the city.

The hotel was constructed on reclaimed land, demanding creative engineering solutions to keep the tight 27-month construction schedule on track.

Use of the Temporary Earth Retaining Structure method (TERS) was instrumental in this regard.

TERS is a temporary shoring and excavation support method used in underground construction, recognized for reducing development time.

In the underground section of the high-rise towers, the TERS method was applied by installing circular temporary diaphragm walls (D-wall) in donut and peanut shapes, measuring 100 meters and 75 meters in diameter, respectively. These structures ensure ground stability by supporting the earth pressure of three underground levels without the need for struts.

The resultingly spacious and unobstructed work area allowed smooth movement of materials and equipment, and permitted superstructure work on the upper floors to proceed concurrently, further speeding up construction.

During building works, the ACS method (Automatic Climbing System) was employed for the core walls: upon completion of each floor , hydraulic jacks automatically lifted the formwork to continue construction on the level above.

Similarly, various other methods were harnessed for quality and efficiency purposes, namely use of dry-wall partitions with built-in soundproofing and cable-routing for guestroom walls, and modular construction for bathrooms.

The unique "入"-shaped structure of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is another of its striking characteristics. Each of the three towers features a split pair structure, one almost vertical and the other inclined, leaning against one another at an angle of up to 52 degrees. Both merges seamlessly at the 23rd floor.

To achieve all this, the Ssangyong E&C team opted for internal post-tensioning, after rigorously testing and reviewing its options. Rather than pulling the structure externally with cables, high-strength prestressing tendons were installed inside the core walls instead.

This is a modification of the post-tensioning technique commonly used in bridge construction, where anchors were affixed at the base slab of the lowest floor, and seven high-strength, twisted steel wire tendons, approximately five times stronger than conventional rebar, were connected and tensioned to secure the structure.

A complementary Temporary Bracing technique was also applied.

In conjunction with the post-tensioning method, it provides stable support for the inclined structures, maintaining their sloped form until the structural frame is fully completed.

Three sets of eight such braces were installed on the 8th, 14th, and 20th floors, but were removed once the structure was completed up to the 29th floor.

The Transfer Truss method, involving use of a massive steel structure at the 23rd floor, approximately 70 meters above ground, proved pivotal in blending the two structural components into a single, stable unit. The Truss distributed the building&rsquos immense load across the nearly vertical western structure, and its more inclined eastern counterpart alongside it, bearing approximately 60% and 40% of the load respectively, and enhancing structural stability overall.

Alongside these various innovations and creative solutions, each of the four slab zones was operated on a four-day cycle, which saw one floor constructed every four days. As crews became more proficient with passing time, a three-day cycle soon became achievable. This rapid progress, at a pace of one floor every three to four days, amazed the citizens of Singapore.

The scope and quantity of materials used was extraordinary. Enough rebar was used to build approximately 15 office buildings with five basement levels, 25 above-ground stories, and an overall floorspace of 33,000 square meters.

The total rebar tonnage was 43,000, and if laid flat, would stretch over 27,232 kilometers, equivalent to twice Earth&rsquos diameter. Additionally, 195,000 cubic meters of concrete was poured, enough to fill 78 Olympic-sized swimming pools of 2,500 cubic meters each.

At the peak of construction, more than 6,000 workers serviced two shifts around the clock, representing over 10 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, China, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Despite the challenges of coordinating a multilingual, multicultural workforce, the project achieved a remarkable safety milestone of 12 million man-hours without a single accident.