Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Flood at Orchard Road

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Flood at Orchard Road

Someone wrote to me to link the flood at Orchard Road to the Marina Barrage. I do not understand how this could be the cause of the flood. However, it does appear that there were two serious floods in Singapore in recent years, i.e. the flood at Bukit Timah and now at Orchard Road. We used to have good drainage sysem in Singapore, but this seemed to have deteriorated. Can the experts share your views?

Tan Kin Lian

54 comments:

Anonymous said...: It was due to poor and lack of proper maintenance of the drainage system around Orchard Road. How could the flood water subsided or 'disappeared' suddently within 2 hours after the rain had stopped?

FL; June 17, 2010 9:34 AM
Anonymous said...: rex comments as follows,

I am not sure you will publish my comments since i am not an "expert" whose views you are seeking.

My first suspicion of something other than "natural causes" of the flood is very simple.
In the past floods are frequently explained by the authorities that rain coincided with High Tide. Not this time. All the authorities said was the rain was 60% of June average rainfall. As if June is traditionally a month with a lot of rain.. big deal.!!

If a disaster like this could happen at a time not traditionally known for torrential rains on daily basis, and neither was there High Tide blocking the drainage, I shudder to think what lies ahead.

I also worry about the underground trains. There was no problem yesterday, because the barriers to the water entry (water always flow downward) do their job well. What if they don't? Water gonna kill many people if the water barriers to the underground infrastructure start to leak. This could happen with time - imagine the huge water pressure of such large volume of water seeking the lowest level.

In my opinion, something is definitely wrong.
1. Maybe the engineers miscalculated the drainage requirements and impact after the ION, 312 and OrchardCentral went up? They may have made compromises, more retail space, but trade off in terms of drainage design?
2. Maybe the open canal next to the former specialist centre should not have been changed, as it is good for collecting rain water?
3. Maybe Marina barrage exit gates were too small - design miscalculation - so that when the gates were opened full the free flow of water is still impeded to a large extent?

In my opinion, some experts civil engineer in Singapore definitely knows the exact reason. But i think an expert wouldn't want to divulge the truth.

It takes a fully indepnedent Media and probing minds in a fully democractic society, to ferret out the truth. Since we don't have same, it's just a guessing game for many of us.

rex; June 17, 2010 9:38 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Rex, thanks for contributing your useful "non-expert" views.; June 17, 2010 9:47 AM
dsowerg said...: Apparently some of the major drains near Bukit Timah were narrowed or closed off to facilitate the Circle Line construction. I do not know if this is true.; June 17, 2010 9:49 AM
Anonymous said...: The barrage and Stamford Canal is the perfect flood prevention system, both designed to channel up to "one olympic size pool" in a minute. Clearly a bottle neck exists somewhere along this path - I'm sure PUB will reveal it soon enough, just like the earlier case with Bukit Timah.; June 17, 2010 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: There is this "freak" minister who claimed that this kind of very bad flooding happened rarely maybe only once in 50 years, look what? this has happened so frequent even now PUB said be careful, it can come back again to hit us.

So where is the accountability of all these ministers who demanded millions salary?? They always find lame excuses. How good are all these self-claim PAP world class talents who are supposed to be able to anticipate problems and get solutions.

There are recently so many other serious lapses, like the MRT security issues that can potentially be disasters and life threatening, ... investment losses to the tune of billions dollars...

But make no mistakes. these greedy leaders still drawings millions salaries with such failed performance.; June 17, 2010 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...: yesterday flash flood in the morning did concide with high tide of 3m. From NEA report that more than 100mm of rain intensity was collected within the 2-3 hours period (~ 8 to 11), that's equivalent to a storm of return period > 50 to even 100 years. Canals and drains are designed to cater to a specify flow - it is impractical to design a canal large enough to cater for a return period greater than 100-years only to see its use being met once per century. The Stamford Canal is, if not mistaken, designed to cater to 1:50 years storm, so Wed rain intensity would probably beaten its carrying capacity. I'm sure our water agency PUB would conduct a thorough investigation on this.; June 17, 2010 10:26 AM
Anonymous said...: The government can't use high tide as an excuse this time round because according to yesterday's newspaper the tide around 7am was 0.0m. The tide around 3pm was 2.5m.

It is time this government come clean and be man enough to take full responsibility for all the recent lapses - mrt depot security breach, etc.

It is time for our government to take responsibility and accountability that is equal to the amount of salary that they are paying themselves.

Merlion; June 17, 2010 10:26 AM
Anonymous said...: This is a strong reminder to the govt and people of Singapore not to be caught with material success. natural disasters can happen to us and it need not be tsunami or earth quack. Well, earth quack ? Singapore will be history like the lost city of Atlantis or the island of Krakatua.Only a flash flood is enough to cause panic and this is for arrogance.; June 17, 2010 10:34 AM
Anonymous said...: Me just wonder if the Barrage was operated and operating as designed to during the heavy downpour?; June 17, 2010 10:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Agreed with 9.38 a.m.
With the recent developments along Orchard Road, there are't enough surface soil areas to absorb the sudden deluge of rainwater, also the cementing up of the Orchard Road canal is blocking water from draining off quickly.
When there is a sudden, fierce rainfall, the Marina barrage is more of a hindrance to quick drainage, maybe the staff was also caught offguard, and may be too complacent to act quickly to open the floodgates quickly.
Surprisingly, Singapore civil engineers are so inexperienced and their mediocre performance is unbelievable. This time round our MInister Yacob could not repeat the same excuse that such phenomena happens once in 50 years time, his Ministry is simply incapable.; June 17, 2010 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Now the question is "Who is going to pay for the damage"? Not sure if those retailers have proper insurance.; June 17, 2010 11:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Ask yourself where does all the drainage leads to?
The obvious answer will be ...the sea.
For this reason our government built the barrage to prevent it and collect the water like a dam.
Once the dam is full a back pressure is created therefore excess water flow back to where it came from.; June 17, 2010 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Did you see the ad by ntuc in ST? What has become of Ntuc? it is exploiting and capitalising on a national disaster.It is dispicable and shameless, isn't it? What motive has ntuc? look, you won't get people buying insurance by spending the policyholders's money and splurge on this ad. What ntuc become? It is getting shameless each day. I am ashame of ntuc and will consider canceling all my policies.; June 17, 2010 11:43 AM
Anonymous said...: May I offer my humble viewpoint from an anecdotal historical perspective.

Forty years ago, the annual monsoon seasons (heavy rainfalls) were well defined.
North-east Monsoon: Nov-Dec
South-west Monsoon: June-July

Then climate change and/or El-Nino effect started modifying our rainy seasons about 10-15 years ago. As a result, no well defined rainy seasons in Singapore. PEAK RAINFALLS BECAME LESS SEVERE.

We also systematically started getting rid of our "deadwood" - the PMETs over 40 years old with the institutional memory of high peak rainfalls.

The replacement bright young scholars probably designed flood control measures that used more recent data for "peak rainfalls" to estimate the design parameters for flood control systems.

It's definitely "cheaper, better, faster" if you use the less severe peak rainfalls over the last 15 years to design flood control systems. The justification would be - Recent data must be "more accurate" since it is recent .... yada, yada, yada and etc. .....

I remember remarking to my wife about 2 years ago, that the "old" monsoon seasonal patterns seem to be returning. But what do I know. I'm just an old bugger who is over 40 years old.

Singapore belongs to the young. It's their turn to fix the problem with their geriatric mentors who still have a job "grooming" them.

We remain comforted that we still have the best flood control systems as long as the rainfall stays within the last 15 years' peak loading.

Interestingly, the engineers who designed the dams to control flooding along the Nile River had the same problem. How many years of flood data should you use?

The most well known popular books are "Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan" by Nassim Taleb that discusses the science and maths behind this problem.

But we are uniquely Singapore. Why use science when we have all-knowing visionaries to lead us?; June 17, 2010 11:59 AM
Anonymous said...: From the locations of the flooding, it looks like there is blockage at the discharge point which (may be due to debris blocking near the major construction along rochor road and marina area ) result in backwater.

Which means water collected along the flooding route could not flow through the discharge point so the water level along the route just rise. authorities may not find blockage at orchard as would have provide sufficient culverts but likely to find blockage near the discharge points.; June 17, 2010 12:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Rex

While your views may be "non expert", it is most enlightening and thought provoking

Yes we have been very fortunate to escape flooding in the MRT tunnels, which would otherwise have paralysed the MRT network in Singapore and possibly loss of lives. What is SMRT and/or LTA going to say afterwhich? By the time the monsoon season strikes us in Nov and Dec, will the MRT tunnels be fortunate enough again?

I share your views that the truth will never be known. Anyway, the relevant bodies have natural immunity to legal and media. So it is a guessing game for us all

Jerome; June 17, 2010 12:29 PM
Lye Khuen Way said...: I read that the MRT / PUB engineers-Experts cited 20 to 30 years data to build the "steps" that this time round saved the underground MRT Stations !

Now, what happen to the 50 years or more records that we presumbably have !

Very scary, if youask me.; June 17, 2010 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: June 17, 2010 11:12 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now the question is "Who is going to pay for the damage"? Not sure if those retailers have proper insurance.
----------------------

NTUC INCOME, lor.....it is the air.. very heavy claim; June 17, 2010 1:52 PM
C H Yak said...: I think the problem with the Bt Timah flood was clearly due to the diversion canal via Holland Rd / Ulu Pandan not being able to support the in-charging of upstream rainwater collected by the condo belt along Upper Bt Timah Rd / Bt Bukit Timah Rd.

I think the same problem will take place around the Orchard Rd / Shenton Area very soon and quite possible the Marina Barrage is not allowing the sudden charge of rainwater to flow out to sea when there is too sudden a downpour.

Generally, it is correct that ENV Minister said about the "weird" flood which happen over 50 years...but he never tell the full story...that is in the Bukit Timah case...why the condo developments came up one by one, and the ENV / PUB approved Building Plans but yet never realised something need to be done to the Bt Timah diversion canal...while the MND Minister was busy collecting development charges...and IRAS is busy reviewing annual value and collecting property tax.

This is not about GOVT "complacency" but GOVT "responsibility"...thinking too much about revenue money; or perhaps even looking for money to plug up investment losses and to fuel more SWF investments.

The Govt's argument is certainly if they improved the "diversion drainage" for Bt Timah Condo Belt; then the value of properties there should appreciate by definition...and then they will let IRAS push up annual values of properties there and increase property taxes.; June 17, 2010 2:24 PM
C H Yak said...: I am aware that the 313 Building and the redevelopment site (Old Specialist Centre)next to it has a RC boxed canal running right below it...

With more and more concrete areas along the whole Orchard Rd...with more underground MRT stations taking up more basement areas ... there is lesser and lesser direct surface soil / ground for draining off rainwater naturally....while more surface rainwater is collected due the the surface RC slab and waterproofing system...and directly charged into the RC boxed canal...which has a limited volume and restricted flow dynamics.

When the RC boxed canal "has too much to eat, it just vomit out".

I am not sure if the re-development of the Old Specialist Centre Site is already awarded...and the underground diversion of the canal is taking place now...or perhaps it it would be done separately by PUB.; June 17, 2010 2:42 PM
Anonymous said...: To anonymous 10:26am

You made a mistake: you said Quote "yesterday flash flood in the morning did coincide with high tide of 3m" Unquote.

Had this been true, rest assured that the Straits Times and the govt will be the first to write this down into our brainless memories upstairs.

Go to the website http://www.getforme.com/environment_watertidetable.htm

on 16th June, Low Tide was @5.35am 0.9 m and High Tide was @11.35am 2.9m
The flood occured much earlier than 11.35am (High Tide). I estimate that it might be about Half High Tide at that time. If flooding can occur at Half Hide Tide, Singapore is surely going to go down in History as The Incredible Atlantis of Asia.

rex; June 17, 2010 5:09 PM
symmetrix said...: Just 2 comments:-

1. Reports say that Bt Timah is now no longer flood-prone. Orchard Rd has just become a "new" flood-prone area. Pls don't tell me that by solving one problem, the authorities inadvertently created another problem? If so, then the original problem was not really resolved, but transferred to another location. And now, by solving this current and 2nd problem, let's hope the problem does not get moved around to a 3rd location ala musical chairs. I hope my analysis is wrong.

2. I won't be surprised that after investigations are over, the blame may be placed on some hapless contractor who did the drainage jobs. A somewhat similar situation occurred after the Nicoll Highway collapse.; June 17, 2010 5:19 PM
Steve Wu said...: Let's first situate the problem. We glean the following from the PUB Annual Report 2008/2009.

Marina Barrage was designed to be a unique 3-in-1 project to serve three benefits: create a new water source, alleviate flooding in the low-lying city areas and provide a new venue for water recreation.

There is also map at the same website showing how the Stamford Canal, the Bukit Timah Canal leading into the Rochor Canal and other canals and rivers flow into the Marina Bay and how they are contained by the Marina Barrage.

We observe the following.

1. Yaacob, MEWR minister, should NOT have used high tide as the excuse for the Nov 2009 flooding since the Marina Barrage should have regulated the tidal dependency. Unless, of course, we have wasted $200m to build a facility which did not do the job. Marina Bay itself is too small to produce any significant tidal effects.

2. On 16 June 2010, the Bukit Timah Canal again overflowed with significant flooding at Coronation West, King's Road, Kheam Hock Road, and Stevens Road. So far no official has claimed high tide this time because it was actually low tide on that morning. As noted, the tide should NOT matter if the Barrage does its job correctly.

3. The flooding at Orchard Road was not directly due to the intense rain despite the reported claim; that section of the Stamford Canal along Orchard Road also overflowed. The water simply had nowhere to go.

4. While we await the official cause, we may speculate on some possibilities. Based on the photographs and video footages, the flooding might be due to inadequate reaction at the Barrage but more significantly it could be due to choke points along the canals themselves. The likely causes are debris and/or diversion/construction. Why did it happen? The final cost should be in the order of $100m, cf. damages to properties, cars and goods (e.g. Hermes bags).

I have some specific recommendations for PUB and MEWR.

1. Do not mislead the public into thinking that land used for water works is land wasted. There is no dichotomy here. There are so many innovative ideas for dual or even triple use. Some examples are already adopted by PUB, e.g. Orchard Road section of the Stamford Canal is now a nice shady boardwalk. We can have more linear parks and other uses.

2. Plan for over-capacity as the incremental costs are lower. It is foolish to save $10m only to lose $100m or more in the long run? This is particularly relevant because we can expect even more intense rainfall with the climatic shifts.

3. For busy areas where a flood is very costly, e.g. Orchard Road, the canal should not only be covered, it must be SEALED. The intense rain should have been a non-event. It is not difficult to install one-way valves to ensure that water flows into but not out of the canal.; June 17, 2010 6:10 PM
Anonymous said...: PUB has revealed it is due to choked underground drainage. It also said drainage inspection were done every "3 to 6 months". It now promises to do inspection every month. In other words PUB inspection only takes place twice a year or at most four times a year! Simply incredible. If this is not complacency and sleeping on the job I don't know what is.; June 17, 2010 9:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Now they must be overpaid and becoming more and more complacent when Wong Kan Seng was let off after the Mas Selamat affair. Curse to the PAP!; June 17, 2010 9:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Now condo in Orchard area can boast of waterfront living and raise the prices higher...; June 17, 2010 9:59 PM
Anonymous said...: My answer is simple: the cleaning contractor cut corners and allowed debris to clog drainage.. No matter how well you plan, design and build your infrastructure, you need proper maintenance. Just like no matter how solid your car, there is wear and tear ad you need proper maintenance..; June 17, 2010 10:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Looks like everything is swept under the carpet that choked the drainage system.

Will Orchard ION turn to be the Venice of Singapore one day?
Time for entrepreneurs to introduce gondolas!; June 18, 2010 12:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Now that the cause of flood is due to poor maintenance of drainage, affected business should claim damages from PUB and its contractors!; June 18, 2010 1:59 AM
Anonymous said...: REX comments as follows,

It was announced that the cause of the 16 June flood is debris blocking the drains. The solution was correspondingly simple, just inspect more often, and put grilles.

I wonder why debris was never a problem for the last 20 years or so?
I wonder why the drains are not designed to be bigger to take into account the projected debris typical sizes?
I wonder what kind of debris could be so huge that blccks such a tremendous volume of water?

The water pressure must be tremendous, looking at the photos, how could debris (MacDonald cups? CocaCola cans? Small pieces of wood, twigs and leaves? Dead rats?) impede the free flow of such an onrush of water?

I wonder.

rex; June 18, 2010 9:26 AM
Anonymous said...: The blame game has just started...I wonder who would emerge the champion.
I know the suckers are the tax payers.
Maybe ntuc Income should bear since their ad said that ntuc income would have paid if the retailers and motorists had insured with ntuc.
On second thought ntuc might not because it was natural and was an act of god.This might be the trick, eh..another attempt at conning.But the ad has depleted the policyholders' fund otherwise would have been part of the bonus.
Wonder, whose stupid idea was it?; June 18, 2010 10:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Reply to Rex:

".... how could debris (MacDonald cups? CocaCola cans? Small pieces of wood, twigs and leaves? Dead rats?) impede the free flow of such an onrush of water?...."

It is possible that small pieces of rubbish, leaves, etcs can choke up the drain hence reducing the drainage of the water. At the entrance to the main water catchments or river there are these metal structure to stop the debris from flowing into the catchment area. Usually after a long period of time there will be debris block at these metal structure which will block the flow of the water. It is quite common if you were to look around those big drains around the hdb estates.

I believe the debris at the drains were not cleared and somebody must have been sleeping on the job or the contractors could have cut corners by reducing the clearing frequency to safe cost for higher profit.

Merlion; June 18, 2010 11:04 AM
Anonymous said...: REX comments as follows,

Hello merlion,Clearing debris reduced frequency is the source of the problem? It seems so simplistic, for a major disaster like this.

In my opinion it must be already part of PUB's SOP (standing operations procedures) for a certain standard of drain clearings, since 1965!! Contracts would have been awarded on regular basis requiring certain number of clearings per year, to successful contractor. Everything works like Clockwork, hey, this is Singapore. Why would any kiasu civl servant twitch the SOPs which serve well for donkey years and no floods in Orchard Road? How would a contractor benefit from one trip less of clearing rubbish? This is fixed cost- manpower charges on fixed salary for the contractor!! It is not like :cutting corners: as in providing inferior quality building materials in a major Supplies Contract. There is no reason for contractor to cut corners on fixed cost contracts for operational routines like drains maintenance. For donkey years this system of debris clearing works.

Even if one debris clearing activity was skipped in the scehdule, surely it can't result in this kind of scenario!! And I have witness much worst rainfall in the morning in the past and there is no problem.

I see more than the debris issue.

Just look at how nervous the Director of PUB appeared when he made his explanation in the news.

I still don't feel good about it. But as with all things here, let's move on... we will never know.. talk to you again the next Flood event! : )

rex; June 18, 2010 2:29 PM
heaven's piss said...: 9th August sounds like a good day for another flood..."mother of all"
perhaps ?

I am surprised Yaacob failed to take the opportunity to address the public and claim no one drowned; June 18, 2010 5:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Reply to Rex:

agreed with you that we will never know what exactly went wrong....hey! this is Singapore. Have a great weekend

Merlion; June 18, 2010 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: It is very interesting that the cause was due to debris choke. If this can happen, what about in other areas. Soimething not right. Here again just like the MRT 'gaffitti' incident, the CEO of PUB etc all are very quiet about it. Even our Ministers. Such incident luckily our tunnels are not affected, if it does I can imagine the number of lifes lost.
So now we really need to ask who is complacent? Looks like our Civil Service is really lax in their duties and no one want to take initiatives to do things. Very sad; June 18, 2010 6:48 PM
Anonymous said...: The Great Singapore Flood also coincides with The Great Singapore Sale, all happening at Orchard Rd.

Bargain hunters may be hunting for Flood Damaged goods at great bargains discount or for Free as nothing is free in Singapore!; June 18, 2010 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Time to review and do away with Water Conservation Tax during the floods or rainy days.......give back to consumers at times like this! Have a heart and the Gods will be appeased to ward off future floods!; June 18, 2010 9:37 PM
Anonymous said...: could it be that the whole civil service from the ministers to the ground staff are already idling and busy thinking how they are going to spend their bonus in July hence nobody is doing their work.

time to tide their bonus with their performance rather than with GDP.; June 18, 2010 10:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Is the PUB chief and MBT out of their minds to say they got caught off-guard? It is as good as saying they are being complacent for not expecting the obvious!

Close to 100,000 New Singapore Citizens over the last few years. Yet HDB only built 10,950 flats from 2006 - 2008. It's not even enough for the immigrants, let alone Singaporeans.
Yet Mah Bow Tan got the cheek he got caught off-guard?

A major flood near Orchard Road happened in Nov 2009. Then, Yaacob said "Diversion canal could not cope; drainage work to be sped up"

Earlier, PUB said, "To prevent such future blockages, PUB said it will be installing litter traps. It will also be adding sensors to detect any irregular spikes in water levels and this will allow PUB to alert the public in advance."

Today, PUB chief said, ""Even if we have very well-maintained drains... given the amount of rain that fell on that day - as I said, it's 60 Olympic-sized pools - I think it would have washed down into the culverts huge amounts of debris," said Khoo."

What the hell is this? WHY DIDNT you install litter traps and add sensors along Orchard Road after the major shame 7 mths ago? At least we could alert some and reduce the millions of dollars in LOSSES?

Why can't you just admit it? Things COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BUT WERE NOT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; June 18, 2010 11:04 PM
Anonymous said...: I thot Singapore has a minister whose job it is to forecast and envision the future?

I guess flooding was not part of the job description.
And also graffiti and security on SMRT trains
And also keeping fast limping terrorists locked up

Never mind. We must not talk about the past. We must move on.

"My philosophy is that there's no point talking about the past"
Peter Seah, DBS Chairman,
in response to DBS past action of cutting 900 jobs during the financial crisis.
Straits Times, 18 June, page C22,
last column from the right

So next time you are reminded how much you owe certain people and/or organizations for the security and prosperity Singapore enjoys ... remember to say:
"My philosophy is that there's no point talking about the past"; June 19, 2010 12:13 AM
Anonymous said...: Well said, lets not talk about our past. Lets forgot about our forfathers, those who help built singapore. The past is the past. Wow now Orchard Road is classified as Floow area. Maybe we should built a canal in Orchard and be the first in the world to have man-built canal and vience of the east...row by the river.
in overseas, heads will row but not here; June 19, 2010 5:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Rex comments on 12.13 post as follows,

Lesson #1 for all politicians, PAP and non PAP as well:

"there's no point talking about the past"
Use this mantra when you commit mistakes!!

However, if you did well in the past, even if 50 years ago, talk forever your previous great achievements.

rex; June 19, 2010 8:14 AM
Anonymous said...: My fellow Singaporeans.
Relax! Take a chill pill.

Flood control is not just PUB's job alone. Singaporeans must also do their part. For example;

1. Please refrain from urinating whenever there is a heavy downpour.

2. Please don't litter in flood prone areas.

3. Please inspect and report all clogged drains to PUB

4. In case of another heavy downpour, all Singaporeans are requested to report to Orchard Road with buckets to help carry the water elsewhere

5. All deceased Singaporeans who have not been cremated are requested to rise up from their graves to help in the next heavy downpour. We need you to stand up for Singapore!; June 19, 2010 9:35 AM
Anonymous said...: There is a poor maintenance in the outlet drain , sue PUB and not the contractors. Afterall, top servants' pays are comparable to Ministers'. Evidently, there is a lack in supervision by the PUB.; June 19, 2010 11:43 AM
SimpleLogic said...: Sad to say, all the above posts failed to address the real cause of the Great Orchard Road Flood i.e. the overcrowding of SG.
Some observations are quite obvious but Singaporeans are just too caught up in our daily grind to think clearly.

1. Heard the word debris being mentioned? Where they come from? Mac wrappers, drinking straws, cigarette boxes? From people, of course. It tells me LKY's policy has resulted in extreme overcrowding which this island cannot cope. Everywhere I went, I got irritated by people coming in such close contact, I practically have to breathe in their exhaled air and repelled gases.
2. More people = more shopping = more shopping malls = more concrete.
3. More people = more homes = more apartments = more concrete.
4. more concrete = less exposed earth and vegetation = less avenues to absorb rain-water. A tropical forest transforms into a concrete jungle. More people = more cars = more roads, car-parks, petrol stations = more concrete and more emissions.
5. To me, it seems the floods at Bkt Timah is remedied at the expense of the floods reappearing in Orchard Road.

I believe both areas are connected downstream to Marina Barrage, and there may be deficiencies at M-Barrage (both design and operational).

Simple logic works, if you take away explanations from those who are only too keen to cover up their backsides for all the obvious repercussions.

They didn't see it coming, but the Great Orchard Road Flood surprised everyone at the party. They didn't see it coming again, but the coming Great Singapore Property Crash will surely surprise many market insiders, or have they like Goldman Sachs do a secret deal to benefit on the downside risk? Wise up man, GREED and not curiosity kills the cat these days.; June 19, 2010 12:27 PM
Anonymous said...: The size of the drainage is approx. 2 meters in diameter.
It is quite impossible for a pipe of that size to get choked unless you throw tables, chairs and beds into the drain.
PUB is lying without sense even if they are trying to exonerate the Old Man.I sensed there is something not right at the Marina Barrage.
So to divert attention, PUB is forced to be a scape-goat which the CEO reluctantly accepted.Otherwise they will be quick to reveal the photos of the alleged cause to the press.
If drainage of that size is so easily choked, then we should be more worried over the sewage plant at Changi because they run the same size of pipes there.
Come on, Old Man, be gracious enough...admit there is a glitch at The Barrage!; June 19, 2010 12:31 PM
Anonymous said...: REX comments as follows

To anon 12.31 pm, fully agree with your tehcnical viewpoint. How can it ever be possible that Two meter culverts/drains are blocked by leaves and trash in a scciety which is generally quite well educated not to litter on the roads (thanks to the fines)?
orchard road and scotts areas are not places where people throw rubbish on the streets!! And how many trees are there in scotts road which drops huge quantities of leaves? What rubbish this rubbish information we are being fed with!

As you also pointed out, if indeed there was such sizes the likes of tables and chairs blocking drainage, for sure the Straits Times will send a contingent of cameramen to print A4 size in the page 1 of the papers, the pictures of the rubbish recovered. But what do you see in the news? Some bangla roadsweeper using cane brooms sweeping up a couple of black trash bags of rubbish. I wasn;t born yesterday!

As i said before in my post, it will take an independent Media and free society to uncover the truth.

In the absence of same, we just have to "move on" and let the matter pass, till the next flood.

And i think it will happen again, in my view, there is some kind of design error somewhere: Not operational problem, not Nature. BIG problem.

ｒｅｘ; June 19, 2010 8:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Mas Selamat excuse.
We have many miles of coastline. Very difficult to police.

SMRT graffiti/vandalism
We have many miles of fences. Very difficult to police.

Orchard Road Flooding excuse.
We have many miles of drains and canals. Very difficult to police.

Mini-Bonds fiasco.
We have many pages of prospectus. Very difficult to police.; June 20, 2010 1:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Time to retire the top older folks with old thinking!
And time to inject new blood,
young and brainy not the old and brawny.
This shows that with age come complacency etc.just the opposite
of experience comes with age.

Yes! experience comes with age but over time, the mental thinking capacity also deteriorates as one ages. Best time to retire at age 60; June 20, 2010 8:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Storms are cyclical. There are 5-year storm, 10-year storm, 20-year storms etc. And the rainfall for each increases for each increased cycle e.g 5-year storm is minor compared to the 10-year storm but substantial compared to the annual storm. Most countries decide on a certain year like 50-year storm and risks flooding when the 60-year or 100-year storm happens. This is the outdated design fundamental which are still in existence thoughout the globe.

Orchard road used to have more open grounds and grass patches which act as sustainable reservoir. They hold the rainwater and slowly discharges to the drain. But with more new build-up area lesser rain can be held in the ground and more rainwater runs off the concrete and is instantaneously collected in the canals that were built many years back.

Reason for the flood, I am guessing it could be the following:

1) The outdated drain was designed for the area when it was built and the next few years there after. It is no longer able to accommodate what it was designed for as the built-up has exceeded its design parameters.

2) The recent flood was from the "expected" rainfall which was deliberately risked due to economical and logical reasons.

3) Others: As earlier mentioned the Barrage or high tide.

I have studied a little on sustainable urban development so thought I share what i remembered. You can widen the drains but it is not economical to widen drains every time you have a new buildings etc. So a better solution is to incorporate these sustainable reservoir (e.g soil under carparks, greenery etc around the buildings) to hold and delay i.e slowly dissipating the rainwater run-off by which time the peak rainfall could have passed. In short because soil holds more water than concrete. However, I believe these are not emphasised in most design requirements by the authorities. If every new building has its own reservoir it might be possible to have a sustainable urban area.

Blaming the authorities is like widening the drain. You are only doing something inefficient when something else happens. How about re-looking at the design and see if a redesign is required ;)

Exiled; June 22, 2010 12:37 AM
Anonymous said...: If any of the maintenance contractors have been found to cut corners in thi case, it will be just another example big corporations behaving badly. Big corporations acting irresponsibly, with concern for the potential harm they do to society and small businesses.

Just like the BP case. When BP and its contractors decided to cut corners and save costs, and pursue "cheaper and faster" oil extraction methods, disaster eventually struck. And the damage they did to society, environment, small businesses was huge. Luckily Obama made BP pay up.; June 22, 2010 9:58 AM
Anonymous said...: Rex comments on anon 12.37 am post as follows,

As you might have seen from the second post in this thread, i had exactly the same concept as per your post. The reduction of catchment space for rain caused by huge volumes of concrete in the new buildings, definitely plays a part in this flood (and it WILL happen again).

Do people still remember the nice hillock, the last remaining green space in orchard, where Ion now stands? The space where filipinos chill out on sundays on their off day.

That hillock was an efficient means to hold the rain water, because the land mass is esily many times the same for flat grass patch land. There were some fairly big trees there too, all these help to mitigate the effect of storm waters. And the canal next to ex specialist centre.. dont forget that too. Canal diversions cause bends which reduce their efficiency too.

Man should always think hard before destroying nature, or destroying something which worked well before. Nature will take its revenge and it was proven so on 16 Jun.

More floods will come. The PUB chief already admitted that even if the drains were perfectly maintained, the volume of water is still there. So the debris-factor is actually hogwash.

In my opinion the expert drainage Engineers in PUB, long time ago, they already knew about all the above issues.

But what can they do, no one listens to engineers in $$$$$$$$$$$ingapore.

Supposing our theory above is correct, the best solution seems may be to tear down ION and recover back the nice patch of greenery hillock at Orchard, revert back the original drainage plan. Who's paying? Take it from the salaries of the ministers who push hard for this project, no problem. The person who makes the mistakes must pay dearly, LIFE is CRUEL.

Give it back to nature and see what a difference it will make. Rewind the tape, repent and nature will forgive. No more floods. Money back guarantee!

rex; June 22, 2010 10:03 AM

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Flood at Orchard Road

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