The situation
The Skywaters is a 63-storey mixed-use tower at 8 Shenton Way, due to be Singapore's tallest building at 305 metres when it completes in 2028. Its foundation is a raft: one very thick slab of concrete that spreads the weight of the building over the ground. In January 2025, the raft was poured for the main contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (Singapore Branch).
The numbers are large. The raft is 5 metres thick and took 10,250 m³ of concrete, poured without a break for 35 hours. The trade press reports that one truckload reached the site every two minutes through the pour. The pour used Grade 105 super high-strength concrete, reported as a first for a Singapore project.
What was needed
The published figures set the demand. A continuous 35-hour pour with a truckload arriving every two minutes means mixer trucks have to keep reaching the site, discharging and returning for the whole 35 hours, with no gap in the line. That takes enough trucks and drivers who can hold a steady cycle.
What Vanguard Transport provided
Vanguard Transport delivered for the ready-mix concrete supplier on this pour with about 15 cement mixer trucks and their drivers, which the owner describes as the company's whole mixer fleet at that time. Our part was the trucks and the drivers who ran them.
We have not been given the number of trips or the volume our trucks carried, so we do not state either. Only the facts above are claimed.
The scale in context
The published figure of one truckload every two minutes can be turned into rough arithmetic. Over 35 hours, that is about 1,050 truckloads, or close to 10 m³ per load on average across the 10,250 m³ poured. This is our own working from the published figures, not a number from the project team, but it sits inside the 9 to 14 m³ drum sizes we run. For how drum size, load and delivery count relate, see our guide to cement mixer truck capacity.
Our way of working suits a pour like this: a truck and a Vanguard driver supplied together, allocated to a project for its duration. See cement mixer truck delivery.
How we kept it safe
The owner has not supplied safety details specific to this pour, so none are claimed. Our standing practice on every job is that drivers are briefed on site-specific hazards before mobilising, and Vanguard Transport holds bizSAFE Level 3 (Certificate No. E45083). See our safety approach.
The outcome
The pour was completed in 35 hours, and the raft foundation of The Skywaters was cast. The owner describes it as the biggest pour in a long time. Vanguard Transport was founded in 2024, so it came early in the company's operating history.
Frequently asked questions
How many mixer trucks did Vanguard Transport supply to The Skywaters pour?
About 15, which the owner describes as the company's whole mixer fleet at that time. The figure is approximate.
How big was the pour?
10,250 m³ of concrete for a 5-metre-thick raft, poured continuously for 35 hours, according to Trade Link Media. These figures are for the whole pour, not Vanguard Transport's share.
Who was the main contractor?
China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (Singapore Branch), according to Trade Link Media. Vanguard Transport delivered for the ready-mix concrete supplier, whom we do not name.
What size are Vanguard Transport's mixer drums?
Our drums carry between 9 and 14 m³ per load.
Source for the published project figures: Trade Link Media, 14 March 2025.
Written from information supplied by Vanguard Transport about its own work.