An Alternative Lower Carbon Footprint Foundation for a Large Oil Gas Project in Jurong Island, Singapore-Paper

Paper

Pdf Summary

A refinery expansion on reclaimed land at Jurong Island, Singapore, originally planned approximately 8,900 driven precast concrete spun piles. The site’s loose reclaimed sand and underlying soft marine clay made foundations necessary, but pile production and installation would require substantial steel, concrete, fuel, and transport.<br /><br />A risk-based geotechnical assessment showed that much of the piling could be replaced by ground improvement. The adopted hybrid solution used vibro compaction to densify the reclaimed sand and vibro stone columns to strengthen the soft clay. In-house VibroCat machines, equipped with data logging and designed for efficient operation, installed the columns using natural crushed stone.<br /><br />Using the EFFC-DFI carbon calculator, the team compared the solutions’ lifecycle emissions. The conventional pile design was estimated to produce about 22,000 tonnes of CO₂e, while emissions from the vibro solution were approximately 1,900 tonnes—a reduction of around 20,100 tonnes, or 92%. The main savings came from avoiding cement- and steel-intensive piles, using less material overall, reducing freight, and eliminating construction waste. Diesel use was the largest remaining emissions source.<br /><br />The project also reported no construction waste and an accident frequency rate of zero per million work hours. The authors link the results to UN Sustainable Development Goals on health and well-being, industry and innovation, responsible production, and climate action. Overall, the case presents deep vibro ground improvement as a lower-carbon alternative to conventional piled foundations when site conditions and performance requirements permit.

Keywords

refinery expansion

Jurong Island

reclaimed land

ground improvement

vibro compaction

vibro stone columns

carbon emissions reduction

piled foundations

soft marine clay

sustainable construction