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has seen a huge growth and an
alternative route to cater to further
growth was greatly needed.
To address both these issues,
MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture presented
the idea of incorporating two
major infrastructure components
into one mega structure to the Government
of Malaysia which gave the
project a go ahead in 2003.
Smart features
The Stormwater Management and
Road Tunnel, better known as
SMART, started construction work
in January 2003. The project
demanded the effort and expertise
of many - from supply of two slurry
mixshield tunnel boring machines
(TBMs) of more than 13 metre diameter
to solving the complex engineering
issues of combining two different
uses in one tunnel, from supply
of bentonite and M&E fittings to
employing the workforce and the
services of international and
domestic leaders in their field. Part
of the challenge was dealing with
the soil condition of Kuala Lumpur
which mostly consists of karstic
limestone and alluvium with many
cavities and pinnacles.
Hence, managing advance of the
tunneling machines and progressing
major surface and open cut
works to refining the operating
standards and protocols for the
safest operations of the dual purpose
facilities were of utmost
importance.
Early results of the 3D modelling
of reflected features at up to 40 m
ahead were promising but the necessary
sensors on the rotating cut-
Geospatial World I September 2010
terhead didn't survive the harsh
environment of the limestone excavation
process and had to be
removed and improvement was
made onto the casing for better and
more robust protection. Being able
to "see" ahead of the tunnel face
however remained a high profile
objective and therefore other methods
of geotechnical survey techniques
were also applied, such as
microgravity, cross hole seismic
survey, ground penetrating radar
and 2D resistivity tomography. The
most beneficial of these was resistivity,
a technique that detects
changing resistivity of features within
the ground to identify potential
anomalies such as karst voids and
fissured rock.
Mechanical and electrical
components
Smart Tunnel is a dual purpose tunnel,
incorporating a double deck
motorway within the middle section
of a stormwater tunnel. It was completed
on 30 June, 2007. The completion
of the Smart Tunnel is attributed
to the implementation of innovative
technologies and skilled team
players. Being the first of its kind in
its concept as a whole, there were
indeed many firsts for the Smart
team. In dealing with the dual purpose
tunnel, amongst the most
important components are the M&E
equipment that can withstand the
dual environment conditions - both
wet and dry.
Smart operations
Smart Tunnel is designed first and
foremost for flood control and as
such stormwater operation mode
will always over-ride the motorway
operation mode. To ensure this protocol
is maintained, the decision to
close the motorway section for flood
operation has been retained with
the Government through its agency,
Department of Irrigation and
Drainage, Malaysia (DID).
Three modes of operation:
Mode 1 - no storm. For most time of
the year, there is no storm or low
rainfall, which means no diversion
of water flow from the upstream
confluence of the Klang River and
Ampang River through Smart infrastructure
to the attenuation pond
downstream in Taman Desa. During
this mode, the road section operates
normally and the traffic is able to
use the tunnel from Kuala Lumpur
city centre - Seremban Highway and
vice versa. There is no discharge of
water into the tunnel in this mode.
Smart Tunnel
incorporates a double
deck motorway within
the middle section of a
stormwater tunnel
Mode 2 - minor storm. When
there are moderate or minor storms
and the river flow at the confluence
exceeds 70 cumec (cubic meter per
second), the Stormwater Tunnel is
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