A NEW lift-upgrading method being tried out by the HDB will have blocks sharing one free-standing lift shaft, with 'sky bridges' connecting it to each level.
Two four-storey blocks in Serangoon North will be the first to benefit, with the new lift slated to be completed by 2008.
The lift shaft will be built between the two blocks. Covered walkways on each floor will connect the lift shaft with the two blocks.
The new method is cheaper, meaning that some households which would have been left out of the programme could now be back in.
While the HDB could not say at press time how much it saves with lift-sharing, it confirmed that the new method brought down the cost so that the cap of $30,000 per flat that benefits from the upgrade could be met.
Building one lift shaft for each of the blocks would have busted the cap, and upgrading would have been shelved.
The households will each shell out between $1,180 and $2,360 - about the same as what people getting lifts in each block elsewhere would pay.
When asked, the HDB said that it is currently not using the lift-sharing method at its other ongoing projects. But it will consider doing so in the future.
Households in the blocks that will benefit from the new lift-upgrading method have to vote jointly for it.
At least 75 per cent of eligible households have to agree for it to go ahead.
In the Serangoon North case, this approval was obtained from the Block 151 and 154 residents in July.
The blocks have a total of about 180 three- to five-room flats, as well as several shops on the ground floor. Besides the free-standing lift, the blocks will also have other lifts for sections that cannot be served by the shared lift.
An architect contacted by The Straits Times pointed out several benefits of the lift-sharing method.
Free-standing lift shafts will help preserve the privacy of residents because lift landings will be located further away, said Mr Lau Kwong Chung of LT&T Architects.
And, depending on the space cordoned off for the work, it could turn out to be less disruptive, too.
It could also be faster, as fewer lift shafts would have to be built.
The shared-lift method is the latest in a long line of measures to bring lift upgrading - introduced in 2001 - to more estates in a shorter period of time.
In February, there were 3,000 high-rise and 800 low-rise blocks without lifts stopping at every floor.
The Government aims to provide direct lift access to almost all flats by 2014, to cater to the ageing population.
To meet this target and cut costs, the HDB has introduced cheaper lifts which require smaller motors, and turned to steel structures with lightweight materials - instead of conventional concrete shells.
The board had also reversed its earlier stand against lift upgrading for low-rise blocks and allowed town councils to carry out their own upgrading work.
Work on 324 blocks - including three low-rise buildings - have been completed so far. Work on another 438 is in progress.
Numbers aside, Serangoon North resident Yacob Haji Sayuti, 48, is glad that his third-storey Block 154 apartment will have direct lift access.
'I'm getting old, I get tired when I climb the stairs. Moving house is also a problem without a lift,' said the gardener.
tanhy@sph.com.sg
