Malaysia Smart Tunnel

SMART Tunnel

The "Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel" or "SMART Tunnel", is a storm drainage and road structure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a major national project in the country. The 9.7 km (6.0 miles) tunnel is the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia.
The main objective of this tunnel is to solve the problem of flash floods in Kuala Lumpur and also to reduce traffic jams along Jalan Sungai Besi and Loke Yew flyover at Pudu during rush hour. There are two components of this tunnel, the stormwater tunnel and motorway tunnel. It is the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world.
It begins at Kampung Berembang lake near Klang River at Ampang and ends at Taman Desa lake near Kerayong River at Salak South. The project is led by the government, including Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran = JPS) and also a company joint venture pact between Gamuda Berhad and Malaysian Mining Corporation Berhad (MMC).
History:
Construction of the tunnel began in 25 November 2003. Two Herrenknecht's Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) from Germany were used, including "Tuah" on north side and "Gemilang" on south side.
On 11 December 2003, the 13.2 m diameter Mixshield TBM, Tuah, completed a 737 m section after 24 weeks of excavation. By the end of January 2004, Tuah would start a second drive covering a distance of 4.5 km to Kampung Berembang lake. A second TBM, Gemilang, has bored 350 m since getting underway in August 2004. Operated by Wayss & Freytag of Germany, this second Herrenknecht's TBM would drive 5.3 km in the south of the city to Taman Desa lake.
On 22 April 2006, the Gemilang's TBM completed digging on the south side at the Taman Desa outfall, while the Tuah's TBM completed digging in the Kampung Berembang area in 2 April 2007.
The motorway sections on the SMART system was officially opened at 3:00PM, 14 May 2007, after multiple delays.[1] [2]
Meanwhile, the stormwater sections on the SMART system began operations at the end of January 2007.
Three mode tunnel operation
SMART will work on a three mode system. Mode one operates under normal conditions or when rainfall is low such that no water needs to be diverted into the tunnel. Moderate storms activate mode two. This will divert floodwater into a bypass tunnel in the lower section of the motorway tunnel which will remain open to traffic. During the once or twice yearly heavy storms a switch is made to mode three when the tunnel is closed to road traffic and the full tunnel section with a combined capacity of 3 million cubic metres becomes available to divert the dramatically increased flows. Extensive monitoring stations will ensure sufficient time is allocated to allow the last vehicle to exit before the automated watertight gates are opened. The motorway will then reopen to traffic after clearing of the tunnel within 48 hours of closure. We’re helping ensure that the change-over between modes from vehicle to flood use is practical and efficient.