Technical Report Draft 2: Introduction + Problem Statement + Purpose Statement + Proposed Solution + Benefits + Evaluation + Implementation + Conclusion

 

Installation of WiFi routers to Improve Communication between Ground Level and Tunnel in LTA’s Construction Projects 

This report has been developed in response to the request for proposals on developing solutions for improving communication between the ground level and tunnel in LTA’s construction projects. 

Background

In today’s modern world, communication plays a pivotal role in inducing efficient workflow. According to InCorp Global (2021), it is of the utmost importance that the relayed information can be understood clearly and quickly by all parties involved. Especially during engineering projects, effective communication is critical in ensuring that every stakeholder is kept on the same page at all times to minimise the time and money costs while ensuring the highest quality of work. 

Underground construction presents a special set of challenges due to the extreme working conditions and hazardous environments. Good communication systems are fundamental to all aspects of such a project in relaying important information and messages, and managing, planning and initiating emergency response. The current practice of communication during LTA’s underground construction projects entails the use of intercoms which are placed at intervals of 100 metres. The working professionals are required to walk to their respective intercoms in order to communicate with their colleagues underground or above ground. This severely decreases work productivity. Moreover, in the event of any work-related emergencies, any delays in emergency response plans may cost lives. 

Analysis of Preliminary Investigations

During his tenure in his principal assistant project engineer position at LTA, Wu Y., one of the authors, encountered the aforementioned problems in the construction phase of a Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) train station: “My mobile phone often lost connection whenever I visited the station’s platform level which was beside the tunnel for the future train track. There were several times when the project engineer could not contact me to obtain progress updates for the project manager. However, it was practically impossible to rectify the situation on our own. Furthermore, prior to carrying out blasting works for excavation, my team and I had to walk across the entire site to ensure that only the operating professionals and other authorised staff were remaining. This meant that approximately 20 minutes had to be allocated before the advancement of each phase of the project.”.

Figure 1

Sentiment on Efficiency of Intercoms

Note. 80% of the responses gathered from a survey conducted on twenty professionals currently working in LTA’s construction of the TEL further revealed that the current use of intercoms is inefficient. Another 15% agreed that it was only satisfactory, while a mere 5% found it to be efficient. (Appendix)

Figure 2

Factors Contributing to Inefficiecny of Intercoms

Note. It was further discovered from the survey that faults in the communication systems were a leading factor contributing to their inefficiency among many others, such as language barriers, loud noises in the surroundings and human errors. (Appendix)

Ideal Situation

With the improvement of communications, project workflow and safety management can be improved. Therefore, there is a need to devise a better way of communicating during LTA’s underground construction projects. The estimated delayed time of 20 minutes needed for the preparations before advancing on to the next phase of the construction project must be virtually eradicated. Additionally, the emergency response time of about 40 minutes also needs to be reduced to prevent the potential loss of lives.   

Problem Statement 

Currently, LTA’s underground construction projects use intercoms placed at 100-metre intervals for communication  which causes  difficulties for the construction teams between the ground level and the tunnels.

Purpose Statement

This report proposes to the board members of the Land Transport Authority to implement the use of WiFi routers at equal intervals (and software) for more effective communication during the underground MRT construction projects. 

Proposed Solution

The team proposes a solution to incorporate WiFi routers into underground construction projects to improve the communication between the underground workers and the personnel above ground. These appliances will be placed at equal intervals of 20 metres.

Benefits

This section will mention the benefits of implementing the WiFi Routers at the underground tunnel such as the prompt delivery of projects,  enhancing the image of LTA. It will also improve better communication between teams and the safety of workers.

The solution can bring about more prompt delivery of LTA’s underground construction projects. Reducing the delay time caused by poor communication means unnecessary communication time is saved. The saved time leads to higher productivity. 

To add on, the solution allows the LTA to keep up with relevant technology and continue to improvise on a more sophisticated wireless network. Hence, the image of the organisation can be enhanced in the eyes of the public.

Miscommunication between teams at the ground level and tunnel are reduced and thus enhancing a more harmonised working relationship.

It is also important for the system to be implemented as it is one of the key ways that incidents will be communicated and considering the time required by the Live Saving Force to reach the patient. According to Ambulance Response Time To Emergency Departments (E Seow, E Lim), it was mentioned that the  victim’s golden hour begins on the onset of injury. As a result, there is a need to race against time for the victim to reach the Accident & Emergency Department within 60minutes. This time however is reduced for the preparation of the necessary resources to attend to the victim. “If it takes the ambulance team 41.12 minutes (30.50+10.62) to transport the trauma victim to the emergency department,In fact, for some victims there may only be 18.88 minutes or less left if reaction time was included.”

Hence, the need for clear and sustainable communication is needed to allow the quick reporting of the incident so as to allow the deployment of resources to the incident site.

Evaluation

In this section, the feasibility and challenges of the proposed solution will be evaluated and discussed. The proposed solution of incorporating WiFi routers into underground construction projects to improve the communication between the underground workers and the personnel above ground is feasible. Powertec (2016) conducted a test where they installed a WiFi router and concluded that productivity could increase by over 200%. However there are few limitations to using the WiFi routers.

Exploitation of the wireless connection for personal usage.

Personnel working underground may exploit the use of WiFi connection for personal usage. This affects work productivity and may cause delay to the overall project. To address this issue, we can limit the wireless access to only the communication app installed on the mobile phones. Communication through the app can only be done within the site boundary and not to external parties.

Poor WiFi connection

A weak WiFi connection is inevitable and sometimes may disrupt communications between the personnels working under ground and above ground. One of the biggest problems in slow WiFi connection is the building materials. WiFi signals are easily disrupted by metal, brick, steel and other building materials. This impedes signal from effectively reaching their phones. To overcome this obstacle, a high quality grade WiFi router needs to be used to increase capacity and extend coverage. 

Recommended Implementation Plan 

We will need to seek advice from IT experts and service providers and express the concerns and requirements needed to communicate from tunnel to above ground to come up with an implementable and effective solution. By implementing the WiFi system, voice messages/conversations can be aided with  the use of text messages, pictures and videos. With this, it will resolve the problem of communicating in the noisy and dusty environment, resolve communication barriers between different nationalities as well as shorten response time. 

The implementation of the system involves installing Access Point (APs) and routers, which is much easier when compared to the Intercom (figure 1). The product is weather-sealed and water-proofed which reduces the need for maintenance issues. The wireless communication system was installed on site for one month. A schematic of the layout is as shown in figure. 2.

Methodology

Primary Research

For primary research, Yun Huang underwent such experiences from his site experience and together with his team came up with a solution to tackle the issue of communicating in underground tunnels.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is conducted to seek on the Response Time on the Live Saving Force and how quick and efficient the responses are and how important communication is during incident management. 

Conclusion

Based on the primary and secondary research we have done, we conclude that the usage of intercom is inefficient for working professionals to communicate in the tunnel. By having it replaced with a WiFi router, verbal communication can be aided with images and videos. In this way, messages conveyed are much clearer despite working in a confined and noisy working environment. In other words, it will help to increase the work productivity.