MAA GROUP Consulting Engineering

In the past 40 years, MAA has designed hundreds of kilometers of utility tunnels, water supply, sewer networks, drainage channels, energy networks, as well as information networks across Taiwan and in China and Vietnam, often under turnkey BOT contracts, as well as utilities for high tension power lines, and broadband cable lines for cities and industrial parks in East and Southeast Asia.

MAA is one of the pioneers introducing the common utility duct concept in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. By storing all major utilities (including electricity, water, sewer, fiber optics, and other communication lines) into one common duct, this system maximizes underground space efficiency, decreases maintenance costs by allowing easy repair access, provides greater structural protection, and minimizes above ground construction which may disrupt traffic. Many of the Taiwan government’s specifications to regulate, maintain, control, and design these systems were drafted by MAA.

MAA designed the common duct running along the Taipei Xinyi Metro line, which was the first common duct project both to use the shield tunneling system, as well as for its proximity to the Metro line. MAA provides a full spectrum of services on common utility ducts: including feasibility studies, geotechnical, environmental and legal aspects, planning and design, and creation of Geographic Information System (GIS)-based utility management databases.

Along with MAA’s expertise in common duct implementation and system management, MAA recently integrated BIM for use in utilities as well, using tunnel mapping to support common duct placement and scheduling. This novel technology will serve to lower costs, as well as provide higher efficiency plans for common utility ducts.