Malaysia’s SMART Tunnel.
Flood control is one of the concerns of many countries around the world, including Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, located near the confluence of two rivers.
The main purpose of the tunnel is to solve the flooding problem in Kuala Lumpur and also to reduce traffic congestion along the Jalan Sungai Besi and Loke Yew flyovers at Pudu during rush hour.
How SMART tunnels operate in Malaysia.
There are three modes of tunnel operation.
If there is a big storm, vehicles will be banned from traveling.
The water tank is 9.7 km long and the traffic tunnel is 4 km long with a construction cost of 514 million USD.
Marina Barrage Dam seen from above.
Singapore has built many water reservoirs to both prevent floods and rising water levels and provide fresh water for people.
If there is heavy rain at low tide, the dam gates will be lowered to release excess water from the reservoir into the sea.
Japan’s capital Tokyo has a long tradition of fighting floods, because the city is located on a plain surrounded by five river systems and dozens of large and small rivers that continuously swell each season.
Underground tunnels reduce flood damage in the Japanese capital by 90%.
The underground tank system helps Tokyo cope with floods.
This $2 billion underground tank was completed in 2016, including a 6.3 km long tunnel system and towering cylindrical chambers that can hold huge amounts of water.
This system draws water from small and medium-sized rivers in the northern area of Tokyo and circulates them to the larger Edo River.
Each underground tank is large enough to hold a space shuttle or the Statue of Liberty, and they are connected through a tunnel system.
Thames Barrier, flood protection works for London.
England’s Thames Barrier flood protection project is a 520 m long dam system across the Thames River in the Woolwich section, east of London, to prevent London from being flooded by high tides and storm surges from the North Sea.
Thames Barrier consists of steel gates weighing 3 thousand tons, 20 m high that can be rotated.
How the Thames Barrier works.
Only 50% of the Netherlands is above sea level, so flood prevention is the country’s top priority.
More than 10 years ago, the Netherlands began implementing the program `increasing space for rivers` at a cost of 2.8 billion USD.
Chris Zevenbergen, professor of flood resilience of urban systems at the Ihe Delft Institute, calls this a watershed change.
`Advice for cities facing the risk of flooding due to rain or storms is: Don’t wait until the next flood disaster occurs to take a really serious look at the current situation and consider
