Sengkang Bus Interchange - CCTV Singapore

Project Snapshot

When LTA needed to rebuild the existing Sengkang Bus Interchange, an interim interchange was built at Sengkang East Way to keep the bus network running without disruption. Securevision was engaged by main contractor W'Ray to design and build the IP CCTV system to a published LTA tender specification - ensuring the temporary facility met the same surveillance, retention, and resilience standards as a permanent terminal.

Client	Land Transport Authority (LTA)
Stakeholders	LTA (owner) · W'Ray (main contractor) · SBS Transit / SMRT (operating bus operators)
Location	Sengkang East Way, Singapore
Sector	Institution - Transport Infrastructure
Project Type	Design & Build (CCTV scope under main contractor)
Tender Reference	40_RD285_PS22 CCTV Specification (Revised 14 October 2015)
Awarded	August 2016
Completion	June 2017 (handover to LTA / operator)
Scale	53 IP cameras · 5× 16-channel NVRs · 3× 21" PSO monitors · 3× 32" entrance monitors · 3kVA UPS · private CCTV LAN

Technologies Implemented

Hikvision 2MP IP cameras with vari-focal 2.8–12mm lenses, IP65 housing, and 16-channel NVR recording.

The Challenge

Permanent-Standard Surveillance for a Temporary Facility

An interim interchange has the same operational reality as a permanent one. Thousands of commuters pass through every day. Buses arrive and depart on schedule. A Passenger Service Office runs in real time. The fact that the facility would eventually be decommissioned did not lower the bar - LTA's specification required the same coverage percentages, retention period, and resilience as a permanent interchange.

The published tender specification (40_RD285_PS22, revised 14 October 2015) defined coverage in measurable terms: a person 1,600 mm tall standing at the furthest field-of-view edge had to appear at no less than 10% of monitor vertical height. The concourse and bus parking areas required 95% coverage at 10%R. Designated commuter entrances required 50%R frontal capture. Vehicle entrances required both frontal and rear-facing views. Emergency exits, perimeter fence lines, and the server room all had their own coverage rules.

Specifying enough cameras was not the hard part. Specifying them in the right places - verified before installation, against geometry that left no gaps for someone walking the concourse or moving through the bus parking islands - was the engineering problem this project was built to solve.

Plan view of the Sengkang Interim Bus Interchange with overlapping camera coverage zones, showing field-of-view triangles for external cameras across the bus parking islands, perimeter, and concourse — Coverage planning for the external cameras at Sengkang. Each shaded triangle is the calculated field of view of one IP camera, modelled in 3D before installation to verify two-camera-view coverage of every walking path on the site.

Transformation

Designed Against Specification, Delivered Beyond It

Coverage Requirement	Tender Specification	Securevision Delivered
Concourse Coverage	95% coverage at 10%R	95% coverage at 10%R achieved with overlapping IP camera fields
Bus Bay & Parking	95% coverage at 10%R; 100% perimeter coverage	Met across all bus bay islands and the full bay perimeter
Designated Entrances	50%R frontal capture	Met at every designated commuter entrance / exit
Vehicle Entrances	Frontal and rear views of all vehicles	Dual-angle coverage for every vehicle entry / exit point
Recording Retention	28 days @ 6fps, 704×576	28 days @ 6fps, 720p (1280×760) - exceeds spec resolution
NVR Spare Capacity	≥10% spare storage; ≥20% spare video inputs	12TB per NVR (3× 4TB); 27 spare channels across 5 NVRs (~34%)
Power Standby	1-hour UPS for full CCTV system	3kVA UPS sized for cameras, switches, NVRs, monitors, and workstations

Decision Point

Planning Coverage in 3D Before Installing the First Camera

A coverage specification written in percentages - 95% at 10%R, 50%R frontal, 100% perimeter - is not the same thing as a camera schedule. The spec tells you the outcome the auditor will measure; it does not tell you where to mount each camera, what focal length to set, or how to handle the worst-case viewing angles where two columns block each other's lines of sight. Getting this wrong means rework on a site already running a live bus operation.

We modelled the entire interchange in a 3D coverage visualisation tool before specifying the camera schedule. Each camera's field of view was projected onto the plan, vari-focal lens settings were tuned for the worst-case position in each zone, and the design was iterated until every walking path on the concourse and bus parking area was covered by at least two camera views. Only after the geometry was verified did we lock the equipment list.

The result was a deployment that met the tender specification on day one. There was no on-site recalibration round, no missed coverage zones discovered during commissioning, and no need to add cameras after handover. The 3D coverage diagrams also became part of the handover documentation - giving LTA's auditors and the operator's PSO team a verifiable map of what each camera sees and why.

Our Approach

Zone-by-Zone Coverage Planning, Verified Against Specification

Securevision treated the interchange as five distinct coverage zones, each with its own spec clause and geometry challenge. The design verified each zone against its tender requirement before the equipment list was finalised, then phased the installation to fit the main contractor's programme.

🚌

Bus Bay & Parking Islands

Cameras mounted on island poles at 2.5m, with overlapping fields covering both bus bays and the full parking perimeter. Two-camera-view planning ensured no commuter or boarding passenger appeared in only one view.

🏛️

Concourse

Wall and column-mounted IP cameras with vari-focal lenses set for the worst-case furthest field. Coverage verified at 95% at 10%R against pedestrian flow lines from boarding queues to the PSO.

🚶

Commuter & Emergency Entrances

Frontal-view cameras at every designated commuter entrance set for 50%R capture. Emergency exits covered at 20%R as specified, with framing tuned to capture clear identification without backlight.

🛡️

Perimeter & Server Room

Pole-mounted cameras along the perimeter fence covering 100% of the bus bay boundary. The Passenger Service Office and adjacent server room were covered at 20%R for the external access area, with all NVRs racked inside the secured server room.

Once the zones were verified against the spec, the installation programme was phased to match W'Ray's main works - power, network, camera mounts, NVR commissioning, and operator training in sequence - so that handover to LTA and the operator could happen on the agreed date.

The Solution

An Integrated, Spec-Compliant IP CCTV Platform

A private CCTV LAN linking 53 cameras to five NVRs in the server room, with display monitors at the PSO and at every entrance, and a 3kVA UPS providing one-hour battery standby for the entire system.

Surveillance Layer

53 IP Cameras Across Five Coverage Zones

2-megapixel IP cameras with vari-focal 2.8–12mm lenses, IP65 weatherproof housings outdoors, and IP54 housings in protected interior areas. Each camera mounted at 2.5m as specified, with focal length tuned to the worst-case viewing position in its zone.

Surveillance & Detection →

Recording Layer

Five 16-Channel NVRs With 28-Day Retention

NVRs racked in the secured server room, each carrying three 4TB drives for 12TB usable capacity. The aggregate of 80 input channels across five recorders left ~34% spare beyond the 53 cameras assigned - well above the 20% spare-input requirement in the tender spec.

Platform & Management →

Operator & Display Layer

Dual-Workstation, Dual-Monitor Set-Up

Three 21" monitors at the Passenger Service Office for live viewing and incident interrogation. Three 32" monitors - one at each main entrance - displaying live coverage to anyone walking into the terminal, both as a deterrent and as a transparency signal. A second workstation in the server room for maintenance staff.

Platform & Management →

Equipment Deployed

What Was Installed

A 53-camera IP CCTV system across the concourse, bus parking islands, perimeter, and entrances - recorded on five 16-channel NVRs with 28-day retention, displayed at the PSO and at three main entrances, and backed by a 3kVA UPS.

IP CCTV System

Cameras: 53× High-Resolution IP Cameras.

Full coverage of concourse, parking islands, and perimeter.
Planned using 3D FOV modelling for 100% compliance.
Outdoor-rated housings for transport environment.

Recording: 5× 16-Channel Network Video Recorders.

80 total input channels (50% spare capacity).
28-day retention as per LTA RD285 specification.
Continuous, critical recording.

Monitoring & Display

PSO Control Room: 3× 21" Industrial Monitors.

Real-time situational awareness for bus operators.
Dedicated workstation for incident review.

Public Display: 3× 32" Entrance Monitors.

High-visibility surveillance awareness for commuters.
Visible at all primary pedestrian entrance points.

Infrastructure & Resilience

Power Standby: 3kVA UPS Deployment.

1-hour emergency standby for the full CCTV footprint.
Protects against transient surges and power failure.

Private Network: Dedicated CCTV LAN.

Isolated security network for maximum reliability.
Industrial-grade switching infrastructure.

Results & Impact

Specification Met, Operations Ready From Day One

✓ Tender Specification Met Across Every Zone

Coverage percentages at 10%R, 20%R, and 50%R verified during commissioning against the same geometry modelled at design stage - no rework rounds, no missed clauses.

✓ Two-Camera-View Coverage for Passenger Movement

Every walking path through the concourse and bus parking area was covered by at least two camera views - meaning a person of interest could be tracked even if one angle was obstructed.

✓ Spare Capacity for Future Expansion

27 unassigned input channels across five NVRs and headroom for 13 additional drives per recorder - the system shipped with substantial growth capacity built in, well above tender minimums.

The interim interchange opened on schedule and remained in service throughout the rebuild of the permanent Sengkang Bus Interchange - with the CCTV system supporting daily operations for LTA, the PSO team, and the operating bus operators across the full handover-to-decommissioning lifecycle.

Securevision Insight

A coverage spec describes the outcome - not the design.

Tender specifications are written in percentages and rules: 95% coverage at 10%R, two-camera-view, IP65 housing, 28-day retention. Those numbers tell you what the auditor will measure on commissioning day. They do not tell you which column blocks which sightline, where the worst-case viewing angle is in the bus parking area, or which vari-focal setting to lock in for a camera 18 metres from its furthest field. We learned on this project that the engineering judgement happens in the gap between the spec and the geometry - and that modelling the coverage in 3D before pulling cable is not an extra step, it is the cheapest way to get the spec right the first time.

Discovery Path

Explore Related Solutions

Every project Securevision delivers draws on multiple systems working together - cameras, access control, intercoms, vehicle management, network infrastructure, and platform software. The cards below show the full range of systems we design and install. Each one links to a deeper explanation of how it works, when it is needed, and what to look for when specifying it.

Designing CCTV Coverage for Singapore's Sengkang Interim Bus Interchange