SINGAPORE – The shelters that covered the platforms at the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will soon be fully reassembled, with reinstatement works under way since July 2023.

The last of the 63 platform canopy panels – each weighing about 60 tonnes, including a temporary supporting steel frame – is slated to be moved back to its original location on March 15, more than six years after the two canopies were cut up and relocated so that Cantonment MRT station in Circle Line Stage 6 (CCL6) could be built under the former railway station’s platform.

In 2016, the authorities announced that the iconic canopies would be reinstated after works on Cantonment station were finished, as the structures are important to the history and memories of the former railway station, which was completed in 1931 and is today a national monument.

The reinstatement works, which include building new platforms and reinstalling rainwater pipes, are slated to run till 2025. Since the project began in 2017, about 70 per cent of the relocation, restoration and reinstatement works have been completed, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times on March 12.

Providing an update on CCL6, the LTA said that about 88 per cent of civil construction works are complete, and that the line’s three latest stations – Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward Road – are on track to open in 2026.

The construction of underground stations and associated tunnels for CCL6 has been “substantially completed”, LTA said. It added that the construction of entrances and above-ground structures, and architectural, electrical and mechanical works are ongoing.

On March 8, the media had a behind-the-scenes look at one of the 63 platform canopy panels being brought back from a storage yard about 700m away from its original location.

The panel, like all others, was moved using two self-propelled modular transporters – equipment typically used at construction sites to lift heavy loads. Each panel is about 9m wide, 13m long and 6m tall.

Rolling along at no more than 5kmh, the transporters were controlled by an operator using a remote control.

The transporters are self-balancing – ensuring that their load remains balanced even when travelling on an uneven surface – and can be manoeuvred in tight spaces, making them fit for the job.

Prior to being moved back, each of the 63 canopy panels underwent restoration at the storage yard to which they were moved between July and November 2017.

Works included washing the surfaces of the panels, as well as patching up cracks and replacing corroded parts.

To ensure that the two reassembled canopies resemble their original form as much as possible, each panel was brought back to its exact original location, with the last piece to be put in storage in 2017 the first to return to the station site.

Architectural conservator Ho Weng Hin, the conservation consultant for the reinstatement project, said it was imperative for the first few panels of the platform canopy to be as aligned with their original positions as possible when returned to their original location.

Any discrepancies would cause disproportionately more displacement when the other panels are reinstated, he said.

On March 8, workers were seen manually tugging at the self-propelled modular transporters to make small adjustments when the canopy panel was in place, so that it would be lowered in as accurate a position as possible.

Once in place, panels that were previously cut during dismantling in 2017 are “stitched” together using new steel reinforcement bars that are then encased in concrete.

To ensure that old and new concrete can coexist and not develop cracks – especially at points where they meet, Mr Ho said, care is taken to ensure that the concrete used for the “stitches” is similar in strength to that used for the construction of the canopies.

He also said that prior to the canopies being dismantled in 2017, his team studied their construction, so they would know how to reassemble them later.

For instance, they found that antefixes (roof ornaments) on the canopies were pre-cast and attached to the canopy structure, meaning they could be detached at the canopy’s cut lines for repairs.

The fascia – a vertical panel at the roof’s edge – was not pre-cast and could not easily be detached, meaning that work on the fascia could be done only directly on each panel.

Antefixes that were damaged and could not be salvaged were recast using a rubber mould, said Mr Ho, the co-founder of architectural conservation consultancy Studio Lapis.

He added that the Shanghai plaster mix chosen for the recast parts was specially formulated so the parts would match the look and feel of the original antefixes.

Closer to the end of the reinstatement process, new platforms that resemble the original ones at the station will be constructed.

LTA senior project engineer Zoey Zheng said that after the new MRT station and old railway station are integrated, future CCL6 users “will get to enjoy a unique blend of the past and the present, reflecting the rich historical value of the national monument”.

But it will be a while before the public can access both stations.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in November 2023 awarded a tender to restore the railway station’s building, which has been closed to the public since December 2016 and is now in a run-down state.

The contract was awarded to a multidisciplinary team led by architectural firm Ong&Ong. It also comprises consultants from Rankine&Hill (Singapore) for mechanical and electrical engineering, T.Y. Lin International for civil and structural engineering, and WT Partnership (Singapore) for quantity surveying.

Following a review of the project timeline, SLA said restoration works for the building are targeted for completion in 2028, later than the originally reported 2026.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will later in 2024 hold an ideas competition to gather proposals for the former railway station, as part of the agency’s public engagement for its next masterplan, set to be unveiled in 2025.

Ideas generated will “contribute towards developing detailed plans for the historic railway station as a vibrant community building and key gateway into the Rail Corridor”, said URA, which added that agencies will announce more details when ready.