new home team driving circuit development in singapore
SINGAPORE – Plans are under way to build a new driving circuit for the Home Team on a 16ha site that will replace the police driving circuit now in Admiralty.
The new circuit will meet the Home Team’s evolving operational and training needs, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Aug 29 in response to queries.
MHA is now looking for a firm to carry out feasibility studies and come up with concept plans for the new circuit, according to tender documents posted on the government procurement site GeBiz in July.
A multi-storey set-up that meets the long-term training requirements of Home Team departments, and is also land efficient, is among the options being studied, said MHA.
MHA said the location of the 16ha site will be made known to participating firms during the preliminary design concept stage. It did not provide further details on where the new circuit will be, when asked by The Straits Times.
The new circuit will support the training of officers from various Home Team departments, including the Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Central Narcotics Bureau and Singapore Prison Service, MHA said.
According to tender documents, the circuit will feature several open training spaces ranging from 20,000 sq m to 90,000 sq m.
The spaces will be needed to carry out training involving Class 2 vehicles, which are heavy motorcycles with an engine cylinder capacity exceeding 400cc, as well as Class 3 vehicles, which include cars with an unladen weight below 3,000kg and medical transport vehicles.
The spaces will also be used in training involving armoured vehicles such as battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as Class 4 and 5 heavy vehicles measuring up to 16.5m long, 2.55m wide and 4.2m in height, and weighing up to 48 tonnes.
For motorcycle riders, they will receive training in escorting VIPs, riding on off-road terrain and avoiding collisions, among other skills.
They will also learn how to form a “rolling road block” to create a moving barrier which slows down drivers, and to get a hold of suspects from a vehicle and arrest them.
The riders can train at speeds of up to 110kmh or 130kmh, depending on the zones they are in.
The circuit will also house a 1,600 sq m training area with staircases of varying gradients and kerbs for tactical riding – specialised motorcycle-handling techniques for high-risk or off-road operations.
In an administrative block, there will be two simulator centres housing one driving simulator each, as well as meeting rooms, classrooms, offices and a dining area.
The circuit will be required to be flexible enough to meet diverse training requirements of various Home Team departments, while minimising the impact on the circuit’s surroundings, the tender documents said.
Firms that take part in the tender exercise are required to propose “innovative integration” concepts with the use of simulation software to assess vehicle behaviour, and include future-proofing considerations for an increase in training capacity.
The delivery date for the final concept, as indicated on GeBiz, is Nov 30, 2027. Participating firms are expected to develop the approved preliminary concept into a final design layout within 12 months of the award of the tender.