The Marina Coastal Expressway (Abbreviation

Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...

: MCE; ; ) is the second newest of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

's network

Expressways of Singapore

The expressways of Singapore are special roads that allow motorists to travel quickly from one urban area to another. All of them are dual carriageways with grade-separated access. They usually have three to four lanes in each direction, although there are two-lane or five-lane carriageways in some...

 of expressways

Controlled-access highway

A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...

, and is slated for construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 commencement in 2008 and completion at the end of 2013.

Route

The 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) MCE will connect the southern end of the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and its junction with the East Coast Parkway

East Coast Parkway

The East Coast Parkway is an expressway that runs along the southeastern coast of Singapore. The expressway is approximately in length, and connects Singapore Changi Airport in the east to the Benjamin Sheares Bridge in the south of the main island before it links with the Ayer Rajah Expressway...

 to the eastern end of Ayer Rajah Expressway

Ayer Rajah Expressway

The Ayer Rajah Expressway extends from the western end of the East Coast Parkway in the south of Singapore to Tuas in the west near the Tuas Second Link to Malaysia...

. This links the eastern and western parts of Singapore to the New Downtown

Downtown Core

The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...

, currently being developed in the Marina Bay area. The MCE, with five lane

Lane

A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...

s in each direction, would handle the large number of commuters to be drawn to the office

Office

An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...

s, home

Home

A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...

s and recreation

Recreation

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

al attractions there. It will also open access to the proposed Marina Cruise Centre in Marina South

Marina South

Marina South is a peninsula adjacent to the Central Business District in Singapore, and also the name of an urban planning area in the Central Area of Singapore's Central Region.-History:...

 and the existing Marina South Ferry Terminal.

Construction

The expressway will comprise a 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) underground tunnel, while the rest will be at grade or depressed, with a scenic view of the Straits of Singapore. The underground tunnel includes a 420-metre stretch that will duck under the seabed

Seabed

The seabed is the bottom of the ocean.- Ocean structure :Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources...

, 150 m away from the Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage

The Marina Barrage is a dam in Singapore built across the mouth of the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008[1]...

. This poses particular engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

 challenges in the tunnel construction as large amounts of water will be let out from the barrage from time to time. At its deepest point, the expressway will lie about 20 metres (65.6 ft) under the seabed.

The 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long MCE will be Singapore's most expensive expressway. On 28 April 2009, the Land Transport Authority

Land Transport Authority

The Land Transport Authority is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Singapore Government.-History:...

 revealed that it has awarded about S$4.1 billion worth of contracts, much more than the initial estimate of S$2.5 billion. The construction of the MCE would also require undersea dredging. More than 22 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s of land will be reclaimed

Land reclamation

Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...

 to build the MCE. In contrast, the KPE, which is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) and has portions running under canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s and river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s, costs only S$1.74 billion.

When the MCE is constructed, the segment of East Coast Parkway between Ayer Rajah Expressway and Benjamin Sheares Bridge will be downgraded to a four-lane arterial road and realigned. The present East Coast Parkway blocks the expansion of the city southwards, and hence the revised layout allows the city to expand towards the New Downtown.

The following contracts have been awarded for building the expressway:

• Civil Contracts
  • Contract 481 is awarded to Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure Ltd at a sum of S$305 million.
  • Contract 482 is awarded to Ssangyong Engineering and Construction Co Ltd at a sum of S$929.9 million.
  • Contract 483 is awarded to Samsung C&T Corporation at a sum of S$716.4 million.
  • Contract 485 is awarded to Penta-Ocean Construction Co Ltd at a sum of S$669.7 million.
  • Contract 486 is awarded to Samsung C&T Corporation at a sum of S$634.8 million.
  • Contract 487 is awarded to Sato Kogyo(S) Pte Ltd - Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd Joint Venture at a sum of S$732.6 million.
• Electrical and Mechanical Contracts
  • Contracts 465A and 465B are awarded to Tyco Fire, Security & Services Pte Ltd at a sum of S$14.1 million and S$21.9 million respectively.
  • Contract 466 is awarded to Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited at a sum of S$8 million.
  • Contract 467 is awarded to Nam Lee Pressed Metal Pte Ltd at a sum of S$37.1 million.