Should we sack Yacoob and hire Mat's engineers instead?
http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_555987.html
Jul 21, 2010
KL's Smart tunnel keeps it flood-free
Traffic decks closed if they are needed to divert rainwater during big storms
By Hazlin Hassan, MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT
KUALA LUMPUR: For the past three years, Kuala Lumpur has been spared from major floods by a nearly 10km-long giant tunnel on the edge of the city which channels rainwater away quickly.
The RM1.9 billion (S$813 million) dual-purpose tunnel was opened in July 2007.
The Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) - widely referred to as 'Smart tunnel' by most city folk - is a huge storm drain that can carry traffic on its upper decks on dry days.
'If we did not have the tunnel, we would have seen major floods in Kuala Lumpur,' Ms Roslina Shahadan, senior engineer at the Department of Irrigation and Drainage's Flood Management Section, told The Straits Times.
The 9.7 km-long tunnel not only reduces the incidence of flash floods drastically in downtown Kuala Lumpur, but also helps to ease peak-hour traffic by providing faster access into the city from the south.
The 11.8m-diameter tunnel - seven times the height of a 1.7m man - charges cars a RM2 toll each way, allowing drivers to bypass heavy traffic by going underground.
The tunnel has three horizontal sections. The two upper decks are open to traffic on dry days, and the bottom section serves as a drain to channel water into a river.
In the event of rain, the motorway decks remain open to traffic, but the rainwater is diverted into two large ponds 5km away from the city. The ponds can hold 2 million cu m of water.
But when the rainfall lasts for more than two hours, or when water flowing on the main Klang River in Kuala Lumpur doubles in volume, the motorway is closed.
Big floodgates are then opened to allow water to pass through the two motorway decks.
Ms Roslina said the Smart tunnel has been closed 44 times - and for as long as four hours on some occasions - since it opened three years ago to divert rainwater. This works out to an average of 15 times a year.
The tunnel has saved Kuala Lumpur from about seven big floods, she said.
The last big flood in the capital was recorded on June 10, 2007 - just a month before the tunnel opened, she added.
Lawyer Sankara Nair noted that flood-prone areas have seen an improvement.
The area near the former Kuala Lumpur High Court, for instance, used to flood frequently due to its proximity to the Klang River, he said.
He recalled that he once parked his car in a basement carpark opposite the court that became flooded.
'The tunnel has helped a bit because you do not get floods as severe now,' he said.
Environmentalist Gurmit Singh said there is concern over whether the holding ponds are sufficient.
'The ponds have limited capacity. There have been instances where the water was much higher, and some parts in the city centre still got flooded,' he said.
'Kuala Lumpur needs to maintain its drainage system. People throw a lot of rubbish into the rivers and allow things to silt up,' he said.
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LESS FLOOD-PRONE
'The tunnel has helped a bit because you do not get floods as severe now.'
Lawyer Sankara Nair, who once parked his vehicle in a basement carpark opposite the former KL High Court that became flooded