Innovation

Our Expertise

From holistic and sustainable townships to innovative public infrastructure solutions, our expertise grows along with the needs of the industry.

Explore one of our three competency pillars below.

A Climate Mitigation Innovation - Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART)

SMART left an indelible legacy on the Malaysian infrastructure engineering landscape when it took the world by storm with its unique concept to solve two of the most critical dilemmas faced by urban cities- traffic and floodwater drainage.

Functioning as a climate mitigation infrastructure since 2007, this world's first dual-purpose 13.2m diameter tunnel was constructed with a Slurry Mix-Shield Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) – the latest in Southeast Asia and the second largest in Asia. The stormwater tunnel length runs 9.7km, while the double decking motorway length is 3km.

SMART tunnel in its own capacity could address 45% of Klang Valley’s major floods, especially within flood-prone areas such as Masjid Jamek, Dataran Merdeka, Leboh Ampang and Jalan Melaka.

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SMART is touted as a visionary infrastructure built with a sustainable, climate change solution in mind. It is innovative and unique, and the design incorporates green infrastructure.

The tunnel has demonstrated the degree of urban development Malaysia has achieved and is an example for other developing countries to emulate. SMART continues to evolve and improve its ESG value.

SMART has four modes of operation:

The tunnel received the following international recognition:

  • CNN's List of Top Ten Tunnels in The World
  • United Nations-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award 2011
  • Special Award for National Contribution, Fiabci Malaysia Property Award, Malaysia Chapter 2010
  • Best International Project, British Construction Industry Award 2008
  • Special Award for Large Project, British Ace Engineering Excellence Awards 2008

Variable Density Tunnel Boring Machine (VD TBM)

Winner of 2014’s Technical Innovation of the Year Award from the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, the VD TBM is a home-grown solution designed to operate in multiple tunnelling modes, with the added ability to vary its slurry density to tackle different ground conditions.

The development of the ‘variable density’ enhancement stemmed from MMC Gamuda’s previous experiences tunnelling through similar karstic limestone conditions during the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) project, which encountered numerous sinkholes and settlements with significant impact and damage to public roads and properties.

The introduction and use of the VD TBM during the construction of the MRT Kajang Line resulted in a 95% reduction in sinkhole occurrence incidents compared to the SMART project, echoing the resounding effectiveness of the VD TBM in the level of achievable ground control.

The first of its kind in the industry, the VD TBM continues to be optimised and updated for MRT Putrajaya Line, resetting the boundaries of underground construction, and leading to the development of Gamuda’s Autonomous Tunnel Boring Machine (A-TBM).

Autonomous Tunnel Boring Machine (A-TBM)

A world’s first and a massive upgrade to our previously innovated Variable Density TBM, the A-TBM was developed in-house to enable autonomous control of TBM operations using customised artificial intelligence algorithms.

The system analyses machine data in real-time and assumes control of steering, advance, excavation and slurry sub-systems with minimal human input.

The overall result of this autonomous TBM is safer tunnelling, which means improved cost, faster response times, higher accuracy and tangible productivity benefits that surpasses manual input plus offers the advantage of integrating multiple TBM drives effectively. It has been successfully deployed in Line 2 tunnel drives crossing 4 distinct geological formations.

Winner of the “Technical Product/ Equipment Innovation of the Year” award from the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) Tunnelling Awards Night 2019, Miami.
Winner of the “Innovation in Tunnel Excavation” award, New Civil Engineer Tunnelling Festival 2019, London.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) Augmented Reality

Certified by the Building Research Establishment as a BIM Level 2 Prepared Business, Gamuda is at the forefront of this transformative technology. We have even developed our own augmented reality platform, called BIMAR, in which we can overlay virtual design and construction elements with real-time worksite images.

Developed by our in-house engineers extending and mating our Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology with Augmented Reality (AR). The generated 3D walkthroughs allow realtime detection of clashes and errors onsite thus minimising rework costs and enhancing collaboration.

BIMAR allows us to undertake a site visit with clients before construction even begins, which means we can identify and rectify any issues early and efficiently.

Winner of Augmented & Virtual Reality in Engineering Category, Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards (MTEA) 2020.

ROBot Assisted Cutter Change Apparatus (ROBACCA)

Our ROBACCA is a human assistive and autonomous robotic tool that reduces humans' exposure to dirty and dangerous tunnelling environments. It represents the first step towards fully automated maintenance of TBMs. ROBACCA is currently in the final prototyping phase and will move into beta testing soon.