Road-raising works at Orchard Road 8% completed

Evelyn Choo Channel NewsAsia 24 Jan 11;

SINGAPORE : National water agency PUB said road-raising works, a flood-preventive measure, for Orchard Road are eight per cent completed.

It added that it is still on track to meet the completion deadline in June.

It is business as usual along Orchard Road in the daytime, but when the shopping district goes to sleep, roadworks begin.

Contractors have been asked to work from midnight to 6 am to minimise disruptions to traffic.

On top of that, works were halted during the festive periods.

Senior director of PUB, Yap Kheng Guan, said: "Work is planned in a way that even in those limited hours that we have, if we have to forgo those hours to make sure that the atmosphere is not in any way diluted, we will do so.

"And after Chinese New Year, if there are any special events, we will then make way for these events to take place, even if it means sacrificing those working hours."

The works along the 1.4-kilometre stretch of Orchard Road are split into three stages.

Firstly, kerbs along the roads have to be raised - and they have already been 90 per cent completed.

Secondly, the roads have to be raised by 10 centimetres initially. And finally, the roads will be layered by another 20 centimetres in height.

As of now, only half of Scotts Road has been completed - that is eight per cent of the project.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, touring the stretch of road, gave a progress update.

He said: "The kerb-raising - we are almost there, close to 90 per cent. Road-raising - we've done only about eight per cent. But the most important thing, I think, is that we've done this very well in terms of the overall coordination, both with the other users of the road and the business association.

"By all accounts, we're on track to finish the project by June this year. This is a very important part of our work to ensure the resilience of Orchard Road will be increased towards the kind of rainfall we saw last June."

Dr Yaacob added that he has not heard any complaints from the public or tenants regarding the construction.

But there was one initial concern raised by building owners - that the raised roads would mean they would have to adjust the height of their building entrances as well.

But the executive director of the Orchard Road Business Association, Steven Goh, said that problem has been addressed.

He added: "I think with the road-raising works, there will be some interfacing with the car park entrances into the buildings. And also they will be affecting some of the pavement areas as well.

"So you need to work with the individual stakeholders because the level of the pavement is different from building to building. So we are able to address that individually."

The popular shopping district was badly hit by floods last year, and the project started in November as a preventive measure.

- CNA/al

Orchard Road work 'on track'
Evelyn Choo Today Online 25 Jan 11;

SINGAPORE - Some two months after work started, the project to raise a stretch of Orchard Road to prevent a repeat of the flooding last June is "8 per cent" complete, according to the PUB.

And the statutory board noted yesterday that the project is on track for completion in less than five months.

The PUB began work in November on raising a 1.4km stretch between Orange Grove Road and Cairnhill Road.

Work is split into three stages: Elevating the kerbs along the road, raising the road by 10cm initially and, finally, layering the road to increase its height by another 20cm.

By June, upon the project's completion, the road will be raised by about 30cm.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim checked on the project's progress yesterday: Ninety per cent of the first stage has been completed, while half of Scotts Road has been raised by 30cm - roughly constituting 8 per cent of the work, according to the PUB.

Dr Yaacob reiterated that he was confident the project will be completed on time.

He said: "The most important thing ... is that we've done this very well in terms of the overall coordination, both with the other users of the road and the business association."

To minimise disruption to traffic, the work is carried out between midnight and 6am. Work was halted during the festive periods, the PUB said.

PUB senior director Yap Kheng Guan said: "Work is planned in a way that even in the limited hours that we have, if we have to forgo those hours to make sure that the atmosphere is not in any way diluted, we will do so.

"And after Chinese New Year, if there are any special events, we will make way for these events to take place, even if it means sacrificing those working hours."

Building owners were initially concerned that the project would mean they would have to adjust the height of their building entrances as well.

But Orchard Road Business Association executive director Steven Goh said this has been addressed, with the authorities working with the individual property owners.

Works to raise Orchard Road on schedule
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 25 Jan 11;

THE ambitious $26 million project to raise a 1.4km stretch of Orchard Road, in a bid to stave off future floods, is on target for completion as scheduled in June.

About 70 per cent of the roadside kerbs have been lifted. And although less than a tenth of the road itself has been raised, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday he was confident work would be completed on time.

Speaking to reporters after a visit to the area, he said he was pleased with the progress so far, given the need to satisfy the competing needs of drivers and tenants in the area.

He said the engineers faced constraints, including having to work only at night to avoid the busy traffic along the premier shopping belt. They also work only on short stretches at a time so that as few lanes as possible are closed.

Dr Yaacob said the work could be stepped up after the Chinese New Year break, when it will be halted temporarily as part of an agreement between national water agency PUB and local businesses. 'The experts will look at the work plan and see how this can be accelerated. Given the option, we want to finish as quickly as possible,' he said.

The works aim to prevent a repeat of the floods that deluged parts of Orchard Road in June and July last year.

The floods came after bouts of unusually intense rainfall over a few hours, and cost retailers millions of dollars in damage. Basements and carparks of buildings like Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza were flooded.

As a result, the Government chose to raise the stretch of road from Orchard Parade Hotel to Cairnhill by an average of 30cm. It decided it was not feasible to widen the drains because the area was too built up.

Dr Yaacob yesterday asked businesses in Orchard to play their part by putting in place protection measures at buildings vulnerable to floods.

Some older buildings, for example, were designed based on outdated building codes that did not make it compulsory to install humps at the entrance of basement carparks.

He said businesses should follow the example of Liat Towers, which spent about $200,000 installing a pop-up barrier. 'We have been using public funds because we want to make sure Orchard is resilient to floods. At the same time, other parts of the system must also do their part,' he said.

Mr Steven Goh, executive director of the Orchard Road Business Association, said communication between businesses and the authorities had been mostly smooth.

However, some firms had raised concerns that construction at times blocked their carpark entrances. Others complained that the pavements were blocked for pedestrians, he said.

'The level of the pavements varies from building to building, so this has got to be addressed individually,' he said.

Asked if the project would allay public fears of a repeat of last year's floods, Dr Yaacob said: 'My sense is this will definitely build up the resilience of Orchard against the rain we saw last June.'

But he added: 'Will it prevent a similar event? We have to wait and see.'