Is Singapore building too fast?

Victor Ong Chee Peng Today Online 11 Sep 13;

I refer to this week’s VoicesTODAY topic, “Floods: A natural or a man-made problem?”.

In the 1950s and ’60s, floods in low-lying areas were common; people took precautions, and the Government took mitigating action. Teachers’ Estate is a good example.

Today, there are floods in places that would have been unheard of before. Has rainfall doubled, causing our drains to flood? Or are we building too fast? Building roads seems to be the next big thing, and I hope that the respective agencies meet and share responsibility in these issues.

Storage tanks the answer to floods
Tan Yong Phai Today Online 11 Sep 13;

The solution to flash floods is simple if we wish to continue building more roads and buildings.

Every project, including road projects, should be required to incorporate a storage tank for rainwater, which would be allowed into the public drainage system after the storm subsides. The size of the tank and when to pump out the water are a matter of engineering calculations.

I am surprised that this design philosophy has not been implemented or even mooted since the problem of flash floods surfaced a couple of years ago. There is a cost involved, but nothing is free.

Green infrastructure more effective in managing storm water
Larry Shaeffer Today Online 13 Sep 13;

Building underground storage, sometimes referred to as the big-pipe solution for storm water management, is too costly and brings limited benefits.

The more effective and less costly alternative that comes with additional benefits is to implement best practices in city-wide storm water management that utilise green infrastructure. In this toolbox are green roofs, which also reduces noise and costs from air-conditioning, and green streets such as Portland’s Green Streets.

Storm water structures are combined with traffic calming techniques for smoother traffic, greater safety for pedestrians and aesthetically pleasing streets. These measures cost far less in total than the big-pipe solution of underground storage.

In the United States, federal clean water laws mandate that cities contain and clean their storm water run-off. The cost estimate for Philadelphia, which is about one-third smaller than Singapore, to address this problem via underground storage was US$9 billion (S$11.4 billion) to US$14 billion.

Many officials in US cities who saw these price tags have now switched to implementing green infrastructure, in part because it has other benefits beyond simple water storage.

This was posted on todayonline.com/voices in response to “Is Singapore building too fast?” (Sept 11).