Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 30 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE: A 22-kilometre water pipeline from the Murnane Service Reservoir to the city will be completed by 2019, the PUB announced on Monday (June 30), to meet the central region's future demands for water.
Construction of the Murnane pipeline from the reservoir - located near the Bukit Timah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway - is expected to start in 2016 and be completed by 2019, the PUB said. This is to meet future demand for potable water, which is expected to increase from the current 30 million gallons daily, to about 60 million gallons a day by 2060, it added.
The national water agency said it has conducted detailed feasibility studies on various options to lay the new underground Murnane pipeline. About half of the 22km pipeline will be laid underneath the lower half of the Rail Corridor.
The agency will close off the stretch of Rail Corridor south of Holland Road from the first half of 2016 as the pipeline is being laid for public safety, and will progressively reopen these sections after the line has been laid and the ground reinstated, according to the statement.
Tenders for a detailed engineering design and an environmental impact study will be called in July, with the latter to recommend measures to minimise the impact of construction works to the environment, the PUB added.
Mr Chew Men Leong, PUB Chief Executive, said: "We will work with various community members such as residents of nearby premises, rail corridor users and relevant interest groups at different stages of the project - from planning to construction - to ensure this project, while ensuring water supply for the city area in the long term, will minimise any inconvenience to the community."
- CNA/kk
50 years on, the city will drink to this
PUB has announced plans to lay a new 22-km trunk water pipeline under the southern half of the Rail Corridor to meet future water demand in the city area.
Gurveen Kaur My Paper AsiaOne 1 Jul 14;
SINGAPORE - As the years pass, the demand for water in downtown Singapore could double.
To make sure that it continues to get its fill of the precious liquid, a new water pipeline will be laid out. It will carry water from the Murnane Service Reservoir - located near the Bukit Timah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway - all the way to Maxwell Road.
That is a distance of 22km. About half of this pipeline will be laid under the southern half of the Rail Corridor.
The pipeline is expected to meet the water needs in the current city area and future developments, including Marina South and East, as well as the Greater Southern Waterfront.
Currently, water demand in the city area is about 30 million gallons per day, said national water agency PUB yesterday.
This is expected to double to 60 million gallons per day by 2060, said George Madhavan, director of PUB's 3P Network.
"Major water infrastructure takes a long time to plan and implement. That is why...we typically plan for 50, or even, sometimes, 100 years," he said.
Construction work for the pipeline will be carried out from 2016 to 2019, and the stretch of the Rail Corridor south of Holland Road will be closed to the public temporarily from the first half of 2016.
A segment of the corridor that runs from the Pan-Island Expressway to Holland Road will be kept accessible via a 2m-wide pathway.
Pedestrian paths crossing the corridor will still be maintained or diverted temporarily, and the areas will be reopened progressively after the pipeline has been laid.
PUB will employ pipe-jacking, an alternative method to avoid and preserve heritage structures such as the former Bukit Timah Railway Station and a steel truss bridge along Bukit Timah Road, added Mr Madhavan.
From this month, PUB will carry out soil investigation works, and environment-impact and detailed engineering studies before the works begin.
"We will work with various community members, such as residents of nearby premises, rail-corridor users and interest groups at different stages of the project... to ensure that this project... will minimise any inconvenience to the community," said PUB chief executive Chew Men Leong.
The project is expected to cost about $300 million, depending on the tender results.
"This pipeline will help us secure water supply to the city and Marina area for the next 50 years or so," said Mr Madhavan.
In a post uploaded onto Facebook yesterday, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan wrote: "My initial concern was whether this pipe would disrupt the rail corridor. I agreed to this plan because it not only enhances water resilience, but it is also one way of guaranteeing uninterrupted public access along this corridor for hopefully a century and beyond."
The minister walked along a section of the Rail Corridor on Saturday with members of the Nature Society and Rail Corridor Partnership.
New pipeline to deliver water to city area
Grace Chua The Straits Times AsiaOne 3 Jul 14;
National water agency PUB plans to lay a new trunk water main under the southern half of the Rail Corridor to meet future water demand in the city area.
It announced the move yesterday and said it would preserve the lower half of the former railway line as an open green space for the foreseeable future.
About half of the 22km pipeline from Murnane Reservoir in Bukit Timah to Maxwell Road will be beneath the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway line, which has been vacant since train service from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands ceased three years ago.
The Murnane pipeline, a concrete-lined steel pipe 2.2m in diameter, will deliver potable water to the city area and complement an existing central pipeline that also does this.
The new pipeline will be 3m to 4m deep, or more where needed, depending on engineering studies.
It will sit above parts of the upcoming Deep Tunnel Sewerage System Phase 2 pipeline, which will link the downtown area with Tuas at depths of 20m to 50m.
The project is expected to cost roughly $300 million, depending on tender results. Construction will take place between 2016 and 2019, and some sections of the corridor will be closed temporarily. Before that, PUB will carry out soil investigation works, environmental impact studies and detailed engineering studies. The rail corridor will remain accessible to the public during all this.
The pipeline will also go under or around wildlife spots such as a bat roosting site and historic structures such as the former Bukit Timah Railway Station and a brick culvert along the Rail Corridor.
Typically, no permanent structures are permitted over such major water pipelines.
PUB spokesman George Madhavan said: "Once this pipe is laid, we don't envisage us coming in for the next 50 years or so." Water demand in the city is currently about 30 million gallons (136 million litres) a day - about 55 Olympic-size swimming pools - and this is expected to double by 2060, said PUB.
Nature and heritage interest groups have long pushed to save the Rail Corridor as a continuous green space for recreation. Last Saturday, they walked a stretch of it with Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and PUB representatives.
Green corridor supporter Eugene Tay, an environmental consultant, said that while pipeline construction will pose a temporary inconvenience, "I hope this short-term disruption would eventually lead to the long-term conservation of the corridor over the next 50 to 100 years and beyond for future generations to enjoy".
Yesterday, Dr Balakrishnan posted on Facebook: "I agreed to this plan because it not only enhances water resilience, but it is also one way of guaranteeing uninterrupted public access along this corridor for hopefully a century and beyond."
