Kuala Lumpur's SMART Tunnel Expected To Be Operational By Middle of Next Year

The Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) project, built to ease the flood problem in the city of Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be fully operational by middle of next year.

Drainage and Irrigation Department Director-General Datuk Ir Keizrul Abdullah said the project undertaken by MMC-Gamuda JV, which began in January 2003, was now 78% complete.

"I am so happy that we've reached the end of the line for one of the drive without having any major problem," he told reporters who were called to witness the breakthrough of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) at Storage Reservoir (near Desa Water Park) at Taman Desa.

SMART's second TBM, Gemilang, started its tunneling activities on Aug 31, 2004 at the north ventilation shaft, near Padang JKR in Jalan Chan Sow Lin and has since bored 3,968 meters to reach the end of the drive. During the drive, Gemilang has erected 2,334 rings that make up the southern portion of the total 9.7 km long storm water tunnel which enabled the southern drive to be completed one month ahead of schedule.

Gemilang was supposed to have made the breakthrough Thursday but due to ground conditions, boring was slow. Asked if SMART would be able to solve flood problems in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, Keizrul said this was only one of the components for flood mitigation in the areas. He said the other components were the construction of holding ponds and dams and deepening of the Sungai Klang.

"The SMART system will divert excess storm water away from the catchment area (downstream of Sungai Ampang and Sungai Klang) through a holding pond, a bypass tunnel and a storage reservoir before it is released back to Sungai Klang downstream and Sungai Krayong," he said.

The other portions of flood mitigation are to increase the detention storage at Sungai Batu and Sungai Gombak through upgrading of the existing Gombak diversion, enlargement of the Batu detention pond and increasing the flood detention storage at Sungai Jinjang and Sungai Keroh by diverting the flood flows from Sungai Keroh, and enlargement of the Jinjang flood detention ponds.

Meanwhile, SMART's first TBM, Tuah, has restarted its northward tunneling work on the third week of April is expected to complete the section of the tunnel by end of the year to catch up with the project schedule.

Source: KLNA