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MORE PICS & Video – First SMART Tunnel Flood Diversion Successful? Why Upper decks were ALSO Closed? Play safe - possible disaster if walls Cracked?

ABOVE: Normal River flow in KL - No Flooding BELOW: Normal Storm, slight overflow in KL
and BELOW: Big major thunderstorms, flooding havoc in KL

Malaysiakini failed to report on the COMPLETE closure of the SMART tunnel (Motor decks) on Sept 3rd even though the lower channel was used to divert the "rainwater" causing so much inconvenience to the Motorists. Not much confidence in the design of the SMART tunnel?

ABOVE: Simulation as shown did not happened on 3rd Sep 07, the cars were not there moving above the water channel as all Motor decks above were closed

Most of the reports (followed the one dished out by the Kuala Lumpur Flood Mitigation Centre that the First live test was "successful". But what they did not say is that the traffic tunnels (Upper & Lower decks) were closed completely when ONLY the lower part water channel was utilized. It was operating under Mode 2.

What happens in a major hurricane storm hitting th Klang Valley? They would panic and press all the wrong buttons and once again KL would be flooded again.

Like all things first time, they were not sure and play safe and hundreds of Motorists were inconvenienced (see STAR report Below). After all it was NOT that smart - this SMART Tunnel.

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September 05, 2007 19:25 PM

SMART Tunnel First Flood Diversion Exercise A Success

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- The first real flood diversion at the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) here on Monday night was successful and has proven to be effective in reducing flash floods in the city, said Kuala Lumpur Flood Mitigation Project director K J Abraham (BELOW)

He said in the exercise, the Stormwater Control Centre (SCC) in the city alerted SMART's control centre when the water levels at its monitoring stations reached critical level. "SMART's control centre went into immediate action and started evacuation procedures. The process took an hour before the tunnel was closed to traffic," he told a press conference here today. Abraham said the tunnel diverted about 500,000 cubic metres of rainwater into the Taman Desa holding pond thus keeping water levels safe at the 29-metre mark at the monitoring stations.

ABOVE & BELOW: The control centre was alerted to the rising water Up streams

He said floodwater subsided at midnight before SMART's control centre activated tunnel opening procedures after required inspections and cleaning work were done and that by 5am on Tuesday the tunnel was re-opened to traffic.

ABOVE & BELOW: Tunnel reopened Tuesday morning

The RM1.9-billion tunnel, now fully operational, is able to divert rain water away from the confluence of Sungai Klang and Sungai Ampang in the city. "Next year, the Batu and Jinjang ponds under the Gombak River diversion channel project will be operational and this will further help reduce flash floods in the city," said Abraham. The 13.2-metre diametre tunnel, construction of which began in 2003, is a 9.7km stormwater bypass tunnel with a four-kilometre dual-deck motorway within it. It was built to solve the problem of flash flooding in the city as well as reduce traffic jams during daily rush hours.

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Wednesday September 5, 2007; STAR

Smart Tunnel passes live test

KUALA LUMPUR: The Smart Tunnel closure on Monday was justified, as it was the first time the system was put to a real test and proved effective in diverting floodwater, SMART project director John Abraham said. "The SMART flood tunnel proved successful and effective in its first real flood diversion on Monday and an alert from the Irrigation and Drainage Department's Stormwater Control Centre (SCC) was received when the rainwater reached critical levels at the monitoring station at 8pm. "The SCC went into immediate action and started evacuation procedures, which took about an hour.

"As a result of the closure, the tunnel managed to divert about 500,000 cubic metres (cumex) of rainwater into the Taman Desa holding pond, keeping the water at a safe 29m level at the monitoring stations," he said.

Abraham said this during a press briefing at the SMART Motorway Control Centre in Jalan Davis off Jalan Tun Razak Wednesday. The briefing was called to answer public enquiries on the purpose and necessity of the tunnel closure, which left hundreds of motorists stuck in a traffic jam. He said although the rainwater diversion only involved the lowest deck of the tunnel, the upper deck or the motorway tunnel was also closed for the safety of all the highway users.

ABOVE: another simulation of the SMART tunnel below KL City and BELOW: the water movements simulation in tunnel over the KL terrain

The tunnel was closed from 9pm on Monday and was re-opened at 5am on Tuesday. Abraham said the closure also gave the authorities the chance to put the system to a real test rather than basing its effectiveness on a wet-test. It also allowed the system to be fine-tuned. "An important implication of the tunnel closure is that the system is able to divert rainwater away from the confluence of Sungai Klang and Sungai Ampang to avert flash floods in the city.

“The level of water at the Tun Perak measuring station remained at 28m throughout the downpour, meaning that the tunnel helped to keep the water lower there," said Abraham, adding that the river would overflow if the water level reached 29.5m. He also said the system was able to give an accurate prediction of the rising water level at the respective rivers in the city centre half an hour earlier. The system is updated every five minutes to reflect the water level at all the 28 catchment areas. The information is then sent to the SCC before any closure instructions are given

ABOVE & BELOW: Computer graphics simulation of the Water flow in tunnel

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= = == = =Watch the Video Clip (1.33 mins) - Simulation of the SMART Water Diversion on 3rd Sep 07

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