Braddell MRT architect put all his eggs into the wet basket.
Why didn't he also build a roof/ awning over the downwards sloping MRT track leading to underground Braddell MRT station? This would have reduced the rain from falling onto the downwards sloping track and removed the need for such a gigantic 5000sq m rainwater storage reservoir (2 Olympic sized swimming pools by volume)
Reverse calc that 640sq m rain was collected from 7.13cm rainfall, the catchment area would be 8976.15sq m: did the architect purposely omit the option of awnings just to incur construction jobs/profit from the creation of the giant reservoir/ the sale of poorly wired/ designed drainage pumps?
Suppose the tracks are 20m wide, means almost 450m of train tracks are collecting rain draining into Braddell MRT station , can't some of the water be drained vz some deeply dug surface drains and would the building of a permanent 450m roof cover have been much cheaper and more environment friendly considering the elimination of need to pump water out from the deep underground reservoir as well as the option of covering the roof with solar panels/ even green spaces for people to play on?
8976.15sq m of tracks collecting rain to short circuit the MRT power system: could this sizable amount of 'vacant' land be put to better use?
Khaw Boon Wan on NSL flooding: SMRT maintenance team 'failed us'
Singapore
Khaw Boon Wan on NSL flooding: SMRT maintenance team 'failed us'
Train operator SMRT has apologised for the flooding at the Bishan-Braddell MRT tunnel which disrupted services along the North-South Line on Oct 7 and 8. Dr Zhou Yi, a council member at the Institution of Engineers in Singapore, says the situation was preventable.
related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Justin Ong
16 Oct 2017 06:30PM
(Updated: 16 Oct 2017 11:07PM)
SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Monday (Oct 16) said the SMRT maintenance team in charge of the anti-flood system at Bishan station had “failed us”, in his first public address on the major North-South Line (NSL) tunnel flooding incident two weekends ago.
On the evening of Oct 7 - a Saturday - torrential rainwater seeped in at Bishan station, causing the underground tunnel leading to Newton station to be submerged up to waist level.
SMRT had to cut off trackside power supply as a safety precaution, causing service on six stops across the NSL to be disabled for about 20 hours. More than a quarter of a million commuters were affected.
It was Singapore’s first disruption due to flooding and one of SMRT’s worst breakdowns in recent history, prompting much public unhappiness.
The incident was “sad and unnecessary” - but preventable and should not have happened, said Mr Khaw.
“We are all sorry it did ... Whatever follow-up action which needs to be done, has already started. Nothing has been covered up.”
“The incident has pushed back the recovery of public confidence in us,” he acknowledged.
“POORLY MAINTAINED”
Mr Khaw said Singapore’s MRT tunnels were designed to handle local weather and cope with “very extreme storms far more severe than the last few weeks”.
“The bottom line is they should not have been flooded. But on Oct 7, the stretch at Bishan and Braddell stations did.”
“There are standard anti-flooding systems with huge stormwater sump pits,” he explained. “Our findings show that the anti-flooding system there was poorly maintained.”
“In simple terms, the stormwater pit can hold more than 5,000 cubic metres of rainfall ... During that period over the catchment area, rainfall could not have exceeded 700 - let’s stretch it, 1,000 cubic metres.”
Said Mr Khaw: “If it were well-maintained, the reservoir should be empty before rain starts to flow. But it overflowed. The pit had not been maintained properly.”
He later revealed that the Land Transport Authority and SMRT had in fact, on Sep 29, made a decision to replace the pumps.
“So we are late by a few days. Had they proceeded to replace (the pumps) this thing might not even have happened.
"But I suppose that is life."
“WE’VE MADE SERIOUS IMPROVEMENTS”
The Transport Minister said energies had been focused on rails and train signalling systems instead - which he pointed out had improvements to show.
“At the beginning I said to give me four or five years. We are at the mid-point now,” he stated.
“We wanted to close the gap with Taipei’s benchmark of 800,000 km without incident ... We have made serious improvements, we have exceeded next year’s target (of 400,000km) and that’s why I was confident enough to say let’s go for 1 million.
“But I knew Singaporeans couldn’t relate, because they still hear delays here and there because of resignalling.”
The main reason for this, said Mr Khaw, can be traced to two major projects ongoing at the same time - improvements to existing lines and resignalling for the NSL.
“I did say the resignalling would have tonnes of problems. I said so in public, to bear with us,” he said.
“So even when you evaluate our performance in resignalling, we have done well. That’s why I’m concerned when media reports conflate the two projects and draw wrong conclusions.”
Source: CNA/am
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...oding-smrt-maintenance-team-failed-us-9315666
Why didn't he also build a roof/ awning over the downwards sloping MRT track leading to underground Braddell MRT station? This would have reduced the rain from falling onto the downwards sloping track and removed the need for such a gigantic 5000sq m rainwater storage reservoir (2 Olympic sized swimming pools by volume)
Reverse calc that 640sq m rain was collected from 7.13cm rainfall, the catchment area would be 8976.15sq m: did the architect purposely omit the option of awnings just to incur construction jobs/profit from the creation of the giant reservoir/ the sale of poorly wired/ designed drainage pumps?
Suppose the tracks are 20m wide, means almost 450m of train tracks are collecting rain draining into Braddell MRT station , can't some of the water be drained vz some deeply dug surface drains and would the building of a permanent 450m roof cover have been much cheaper and more environment friendly considering the elimination of need to pump water out from the deep underground reservoir as well as the option of covering the roof with solar panels/ even green spaces for people to play on?
8976.15sq m of tracks collecting rain to short circuit the MRT power system: could this sizable amount of 'vacant' land be put to better use?
Khaw Boon Wan on NSL flooding: SMRT maintenance team 'failed us'
Singapore
Khaw Boon Wan on NSL flooding: SMRT maintenance team 'failed us'
Train operator SMRT has apologised for the flooding at the Bishan-Braddell MRT tunnel which disrupted services along the North-South Line on Oct 7 and 8. Dr Zhou Yi, a council member at the Institution of Engineers in Singapore, says the situation was preventable.
related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Justin Ong
16 Oct 2017 06:30PM
(Updated: 16 Oct 2017 11:07PM)
SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Monday (Oct 16) said the SMRT maintenance team in charge of the anti-flood system at Bishan station had “failed us”, in his first public address on the major North-South Line (NSL) tunnel flooding incident two weekends ago.
On the evening of Oct 7 - a Saturday - torrential rainwater seeped in at Bishan station, causing the underground tunnel leading to Newton station to be submerged up to waist level.
SMRT had to cut off trackside power supply as a safety precaution, causing service on six stops across the NSL to be disabled for about 20 hours. More than a quarter of a million commuters were affected.
It was Singapore’s first disruption due to flooding and one of SMRT’s worst breakdowns in recent history, prompting much public unhappiness.
The incident was “sad and unnecessary” - but preventable and should not have happened, said Mr Khaw.
“We are all sorry it did ... Whatever follow-up action which needs to be done, has already started. Nothing has been covered up.”
“The incident has pushed back the recovery of public confidence in us,” he acknowledged.
“POORLY MAINTAINED”
Mr Khaw said Singapore’s MRT tunnels were designed to handle local weather and cope with “very extreme storms far more severe than the last few weeks”.
“The bottom line is they should not have been flooded. But on Oct 7, the stretch at Bishan and Braddell stations did.”
“There are standard anti-flooding systems with huge stormwater sump pits,” he explained. “Our findings show that the anti-flooding system there was poorly maintained.”
“In simple terms, the stormwater pit can hold more than 5,000 cubic metres of rainfall ... During that period over the catchment area, rainfall could not have exceeded 700 - let’s stretch it, 1,000 cubic metres.”
Said Mr Khaw: “If it were well-maintained, the reservoir should be empty before rain starts to flow. But it overflowed. The pit had not been maintained properly.”
He later revealed that the Land Transport Authority and SMRT had in fact, on Sep 29, made a decision to replace the pumps.
“So we are late by a few days. Had they proceeded to replace (the pumps) this thing might not even have happened.
"But I suppose that is life."
“WE’VE MADE SERIOUS IMPROVEMENTS”
The Transport Minister said energies had been focused on rails and train signalling systems instead - which he pointed out had improvements to show.
“At the beginning I said to give me four or five years. We are at the mid-point now,” he stated.
“We wanted to close the gap with Taipei’s benchmark of 800,000 km without incident ... We have made serious improvements, we have exceeded next year’s target (of 400,000km) and that’s why I was confident enough to say let’s go for 1 million.
“But I knew Singaporeans couldn’t relate, because they still hear delays here and there because of resignalling.”
The main reason for this, said Mr Khaw, can be traced to two major projects ongoing at the same time - improvements to existing lines and resignalling for the NSL.
“I did say the resignalling would have tonnes of problems. I said so in public, to bear with us,” he said.
“So even when you evaluate our performance in resignalling, we have done well. That’s why I’m concerned when media reports conflate the two projects and draw wrong conclusions.”
Source: CNA/am
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...oding-smrt-maintenance-team-failed-us-9315666
