Volume 5, Issue 1 March 2020

Case-History

Potential Use of Gyro Piler in ASEAN Countries
Teik Lim GohDirector
Atsunew Giken Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
The Gyropress Method uses a newly developed press-in piling machine, so called “Gyro Piler” where rotary function isincorporated to allow tubular piles with cutting bits attached on pile toe to be inserted into a ground vertically or atvarying lateral angle at both sides. In Japan where the press-in piling method is originated, the Gyropress Method has
been widely applied for disaster prevention and infrastructure construction in urban area. Though the Gyropress Method
has yet to be adopted in ASEAN Countries, the potential of this advanced technology to be adopted in the local
construction market has been the talking point for geotechnical engineers.
1. Seawall Construction for Road Development at Marina Coastal Expressway, Singapore
Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) connects Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the east
to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) in the west, with direct connections to Marina South and Straits View areas (Fig. 1).
With the development of Marina Bay Financial Centre and Gardens by the Bay, MCE caters for the expected increase intraffic volume around the Marina Bay area. The dual five-lane, 5km long expressway will support the large number ofcommuters who travel to offices, homes and attractions in the Marina Bay area.

Fig. 1. C481 of Marina Coastal Expressway [S’pore]Fig. 2. Proposed Seawall & Future Reclamation

Contract 481 involves the construction of about 0.5km seawall to allow reclamation to take place in marine condition atMarina Wharf (Fig. 2 & Fig. 3). Gravity Cofferdam Seawall consisting of box type tubular sheet piles wall (Fig. 4) socketed
into firm ground has been proposed for construction before the portion of sea is reclaimed with sand fill.

Fig. 3. Marina Coastal Expressway after Reclamation

Fig. 4. Tubular Sheet Piles installed by Giken Kokan Piler

The seabed varies with water depth ranging from 8m to 18m. Furthermore, the site is located in difficult soil conditions
where there exists a thick soft marine clay deposit (Kallang Formation) under the seabed. The concept of having “implant”
seawall derives from similar concept of “implant” tooth has been adopted. Gravity box tubular sheet piles wall socketed
into Old Alluvium (OA) layer has been constructed to provide the robustness to the overall seawall structure (Fig. 5).
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Fig. 5. Implant Seawall on thick Marine Clay Deposit
Under the site condition above water, it would have been normal to construct temporary staging at much effort, far andabove that is necessary for the required construction works. This is unavoidable as the current conventional piling method
has to rely on a flat working platform to sit their machineries.
Therefore, the press-in piling technology has been effectively used in this project as it allows the machine to self-walkover previous installed tubular sheet piles during pile driving operation. 1169 nos. of 1200mm diameter tubular sheet
piles have been installed successfully by using two Tubular Piler machines for duration of almost one year (Figs. 6).

Figs. 6. GIKEN Kokan Piler & Tubular Sheet Piles
2. How Gyropress Method can be adopted instead?
Gyro Piler has a lateral tilting function which enables to install batter piles and anchor piles at an inclined angle with a setof rotational cutting bit at the pile tip (Fig. 7). The press-in machine has been developed to allow the raker and strut-freepiles to be installed from the same position, allowing the construction of a robust structure through hard layer orobstacles (Figs. 8).
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Figs. 7. Installation of Raker Pipe Pile with Rotational Cutting Bit using Gyro Piler

Figs. 8. Installation of Strut-free Piles for Construction of Robust Structure through Obstacles
3. Concept of Implant Structure
The Implant Structure is made of modular prefabricated structural elements and installed into the ground using the pressin piling method. It functions both as a foundation pile and act ultimately as the body of a structure. During construction,
no extensive temporary work is necessary. It is a structural revolution which changes the current footing-based approach
into the footing-less structures (Figs. 9).

Figs. 9. Comparison using Concept of Implant Structure versus Conventional Approach
4. Conclusions
This new concept of construction further adds engineering value to the overall construction. It reinforces the existingstructures and minimizes the construction activities involved. The procedure of works is systematic and imposes lessenvironmental problem to the surrounding. Even if any existing structures obstruct the construction of a new structure,
it can still be solved by demolishing only a small affected part of the existing structure.
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Figs. 10. The Gyropress Method
The Gyropress Method (Fig. 10) adopts the superiority of press-in piling technique with the following advantages:a) The Gyro Piler grips on reaction piles, rotating and pressing down a new pile into soil and allows the press-in machine
to travel forward in the direction of wall construction and causes minimum disturbance (silent & less vibration) to
the surrounding environment which makes the piling technique efficient to infiltrate into congested area .
b) Even if the soil is hard or an obstacle (e.g. concrete structure) is encountered below ground, the Gyro Piler can still
penetrated the obstacle by special cutting bits at the pile tip.
c) The rotation and downward force are applied to the pipe pile to be pressed-in at ground surface, making it possible
even when the overhead clearance is limited (e.g. under a bridge or viaduct).
d) The Gyro Piler has a lateral tilting function which enables the installation of batter piles and anchor piles for a highmodulus and robust retaining walls.
Acknowledgement
1. Main Contractor of MCE481 Project - Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure Limited (Singapore)
2. Geotechnical Consultant of MCE481 Project – AGS Consultants Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
3. Giken Seisakusho Asia Pte., Ltd. (Singapore)
4. National University of Singapore (Singapore)REFERENCESBrochure 2008 Edition, Silent Piling Technologies, GIKEN Construction Solutions Company.
Goh, T. L., Katami, M. & Motoyama, M. (2007). “Press-in Piling Technology for Sustainable Construction in Southeast Asia”.
Proc. of 16th South-East Asian Geotech. Conference, KL [M’sia].
Goh, T. L., Nishimura, H., Nozaki, Ikeda, T. & Motoyama, M. (2004). The Use of Environmentally Friendly Press-in PilingTechnology in the Construction of Transportation Infrastructures. Proc. of 3rd Asia Pacific Conference on Transportationand the Environment, S’pore.
Goh, T. L., Shiomi, T., Yamamoto, M., Ikeda, T. & Motoyama, M. (2004). Press-in Piling: A Solution for Road Construction.
6th Malaysian Road Conference, KL.
Goh, T.L., Shinoda, Y., Hino, I. & Carlito, M. C. (2004). Press-in Piling: A Solution for General Batangas Cargo BerthConstruction. Int. Conf. on Coastal Infrastructure Development, HK.

◆ A brief CV of Dr. Teik Lim Goh
Teik Lim Goh has his early education in University of Malaya (KL, Malaysia). After graduation, hejoined Ove-Arup (KL) as a consulting engineer. He came to National University Singapore to further
his doctorate study, researching on a deep excavation topic in soft ground. He started practicing as ageotechnical engineer in SembCorp Engineers & Constructors, specializing in deep excavation workfor the construction of cut-and-cover road tunnel in Singapore (Kallang & Paya Lebar Expressway |Contract 421). He has then joined Giken Seisakusho Asia as a Technical Manager, and soon thereafter
has been promoted as General Manager, in-charge of Asia region in promoting the use of Silent Piler.
In 2011, he established his own company, Atsunew Giken to specialize in sub-contracting of SilentPiler work. He is a registered professional engineer in Singapore & Malaysia.
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