Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 22 Dec 10;
SINGAPORE : Liat Towers has installed and tested a new anti-flood system, in time for the wetter weather ahead.
This is to prevent another episode of flooding, which caused severe damages to its basement shops in June.
So the building's management has installed a S$200,000 flood barrier system.
Liat Towers receives heavy rain warnings from PUB through SMS alerts. A security officer will then do a visual check to determine if flood waters are threatening the building and if the barriers are needed.
"To activate the flood barriers, they only need to turn a key switch. Once the key switch is turned, a horn will sound an alarm. At the same time an audio warning system will be activated to tell people to move away," said Jwee Quek, project manager at Parafoil.
And 19 panels will spring from the ground to surround the building. This will act as a barrier against a possible flood.
Each panel can hold up to 260 gallons of water, and once the weather clears up, the water will be discharged into an underground canal.
A similar anti-flood system is currently being installed in a condominium along Bukit Timah - an area which is prone to flooding.
The Orchard Road area was badly hit by flash floods in June and July this year, causing serious damage to some retail stores in the area.
- CNA /ls
New pop-up anti-flood system for Liat Towers
Joanne Chan Today Online 23 Dec 10;
SINGAPORE - Liat Towers has installed and tested a new anti-flood system, in time for the wetter weather ahead.
This is to prevent flooding, which caused severe damage to its basement shops in June.
The building's management has taken steps to ensure such a catastrophe will not happen again. They are hoping a $200,000 barrier system (picture), which literally, "pops up" from the ground, will keep the water out. During dry weather, the barrier lies flat on the ground.
When Liat Towers receives heavy rain warnings from PUB through SMS alerts, a security officer will perform a visual check to determine if flood waters are indeed threatening the building. The barriers are then activated if the situation calls for it.
The product manager of Parafoil, the manufacturers of the barrier system, Mr Jwee Quek, said all that is needed to activate the system is to turn a key switch.
"Once that is done, an alarm - the sound of a horn - will go off to warn people to move away from the area," he said.
A total of 19 panels will be released from the ground, forming a 54m long barrier against rising waters, in just 15 seconds. The height of each panel is 80cm.
"Rain water will be collected by the panels, each of which can hold up to 260 gallons. When the weather clears, a plug is pulled and the water will be discharged into an underground canal," said Mr Quek.
And once the water levels have receded, Liat Towers can let shoppers and pedestrians gain access to the basement shops, by lowering a couple of the panels.
Mr Quek said that his company's anti-flood system is also being installed in a condominium along Bukit Timah - an area which is also prone to flooding.
After the prime Orchard Road shopping belt was hit by flash floods in June and July this year, national water agency PUB announced plans to raise Orchard Road by 30cm.
The $26 million flood alleviation project is expected to be completed in six months' time.
Anti-flooding moves: Works to raise Orchard Road under way
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 23 Dec 10;
ROADWORKS to raise a 1.4km stretch of Orchard Road from Orchard Parade Hotel to Cairnhill are under way, a move the authorities hope will prevent a repeat of damaging floods in the area in June.
The $26 million project, which was announced in October, is being done in phases to minimise inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians.
The first area of focus was a 500m stretch of roadside kerbs between Tang Plaza and Delfi Orchard shopping centre. This was raised earlier this month by up to 50cm as a precursor to raising the roads along the same stretch, said national water agency PUB.
The rest of the project, which will involve raising the roads by up to 30cm, will be completed by the end of next year, said a PUB spokesman in response to queries.
Engineers have been working through the night, between midnight and 5am, when there is less traffic.
By raising the road, the PUB hopes to prevent a repeat of floods in the area in June, when heavy rain caused water to gush into drains, which then overflowed and flooded the surrounding buildings.
One of the worst affected places then was the Liat Towers building.
Yesterday, the management of the building tested a $200,000 barrier it had installed as part of anti-flooding measures.
Earlier this year, four basement-level shops there were inundated with flood waters after a heavy downpour caused the adjoining Stamford Canal to overflow. It caused an estimated $10 million in damage along the premier shopping belt.
The flood barrier, which is made up of 19 slabs of aluminium and stainless steel, is 90cm high and stretches more than 40m around the building, forming a seemingly impermeable barrier should flood waters gush in from the main road.
The barrier pops up at the push of a button. It will be activated if the PUB sends out a warning, via SMS, once sensors installed along drains in the area detect a water level high enough to flood the building's basement carpark.
Architect Wu Chee Yiun, who was consulted on the project, said a cheaper alternative would have involved workers installing metal rods and sheets to form a similar barrier when it floods.
But this was ruled out as it would require too much manpower.
