KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line has achieved more than 70 per cent project completion following the success of underpass tunnel breakthrough below the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway near Sungai Besi.

MRT Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) SSP Line project director, Datuk Amiruddin Ma’aris, said the breakthrough, which took place on Saturday, marked the completion of excavation works for the second of two tunnels, located between 4.7m and 5m beneath the busy expressway after the first tunnel breakthrough was achieved on February 25.

"The success of the V204 underpass construction shows the strong commitment of MRT Corp as project owner, the construction team from MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd as the turnkey contractor and WCT Bhd as the work package contractor to deliver the project according to schedule,” he said in a statement today.

Both tunnels have a diameter of 5.8m and are 60m in length, and are located between the Taman Naga Emas and Sungai Besi stations.

The tunnels’ construction was carried out using a combination of methods, such as micro-tunnelling using mini-sized 0.8 diameter tunnel boring machines and pipe-jacking to construct an arch in order for excavation of the tunnel to be carried out.

Construction of the tunnels began in March 2019 and throughout the period, the expressway above — a major transport artery leading into and out of Kuala Lumpur — remained open to traffic.

Amiruddin added that phase one of the SSP Line between the Kwasa Damansara and Kampung Batu MRT stations should be able to begin operation by the middle of 2021, and the rest of the line by 2022. — Bernama