SMART Tunnel (Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel)

The "Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel" or "SMART Tunnel", is a storm

drainage and road structure in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, and a major national project in the
country. The 9.7 km (6.0 mi) tunnel is the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and
second longest in Asia.
The main objective of this tunnel is to solve the problem of flash floods in Kuala
Lumpur and also to reduce traffic jams along Jalan Sungai Besi and Loke Yew flyover at
Pudu during rush hour. There are two components of this tunnel, the stormwater
tunnel and motorway tunnel. It is the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world.
In 2011, the SMART tunnel received the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for its
innovative and unique management of storm water and peak hour traffic.
It begins at Kampung Berembang lake near Klang River at Ampang and ends
at Taman Desa lake near Kerayong River at Salak South. The project is led by the
government, including Malaysian Highway Authority (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia =
LLM) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (Jabatan Pengairan dan
Saliran = JPS) and also a company joint venture pact between Gamuda Berhad and
Malaysian Mining Corporation Berhad (MMC). The Kilometre Zero of the tunnel starts
at Salak Interchange.

Page 6

In 2001 the Government sought proposals for a solution that would allow a typical
flood of three to six hours duration to occur without flooding the city centre. A tunnel that
would allow floods to bypass the centre was one way of achieving this, providing it was
coupled with temporary storage facilities to keep flows downstream of Kuala Lumpur within
the capacity of the river channel. A group led by Gamuda engaged SSP, a large Malaysian
consultant engineering firm, and Mott MacDonald UK to develop proposals for a tunnel with
holding ponds at upstream and downstream ends of the tunnel.
Construction of the tunnel began in 25 November 2003. Two Herrenknecht's Tunnel
Boring Machines (TBM) from Germany were used, including "Tuah" on north side and
"Gemilang" on south side. Gusztv Klados was the senior project manager of the project.
On 11 December 2003, the 13.2 m diameter Mixshield TBM, Tuah, completed a 737
m section after 24 weeks of excavation. By the end of January 2004, Tuah would start a
second drive covering a distance of 4.5 km to Kampung Berembang lake. The motorway
sections on the SMART system was officially opened at 3:00PM, 14 May 2007, after
multiple delays.
Meanwhile, the stormwater sections on the SMART system began operations at the
end of January 2007. As of July 18, 2010 the SMART system has prevented seven potentially
disastrous flash floods in the city centre, having entered its first mode 3 operation only weeks
after the opening of the motorway.

Page 6

The first mode, under normal conditions where there is no storm, no flood water will
be diverted into the system. When the second mode is activated, flood water is diverted into
the bypass tunnel in the lower channel of the motorway tunnel. The motorway section is still
open to traffic at this stage. When the third mode is in operation, the motorway will be closed
to all traffic. After making sure all vehicles have exited the motorway, automated water-tight
gates will be opened to allow flood waters to pass through. The motorway will be reopened to
traffic within 48 hours of closure.
Technical Specification :

Stormwater Tunnel
1. Construction cost: RM1,887 million (US$514.6 million)
2. Stormwater tunnel length: 9.7 km (6.0 mi)
3. Diameter: 13.2 m (43.3 ft) (outer diameter)
4. Tunnelling method: Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
5. TBM type: Slurry shield
Motorway Tunnel
1. Motorway tunnel length: 4 km (2.5 mi)
2. Structure type: Double Deck
3. Ingress and egress: 1.5 km (0.93 mi) at Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Imbi
4. Length: 1.4 km (0.87 mi) at Jalan Tun Razak
5. Links: 1.6 km (0.99 mi) at Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway Links: City
Centre near Kg. Pandan Roundabout KL-Seremban Expressway nearSungai
Besi Airport

Page 6

Zero Water Level Condition (Mode I)

Medium Flood Condition (Mode II)

Heavy Flood Condition (Mode III)

Page 6

Page 6

Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM)

Nowadays, tunnel is one of structure that gives many benefits to mankind. It is an
underground or underwater structure that gives human a road access through underground or
even underwater. How was tunnel built? Tunnel is built by using a machine called Tunnel
Boring Machines or mostly abbreviated as TBM. What is TBM? How does it work? This
article will bring us to disscuss about this machine further.

The picture above shows the appearance of a TBM. It is cylindrical in shape so the
tunnel that was excavated using this machine will also have a cylindrical shape (circular in
the cross section), that was the signature of a tunnel that was excavated using TBM. TBM can
also excavate through a variety of soil and rock strata. It can also bore through anything from
hard rock to sand. Tunnels diameter that can be created with this machine vary from a metre
(usually bored using micro-TBM) up to 19,25 m.
TBMs have the advantages of limiting the disturbance to the surrounding ground and
producing a smooth tunnel wall. This significantly reduces the cost of lining the tunnel, and
makes them suitable to use in heavily urbanized areas. The major disadvantage is the upfront
cost. TBMs are expensive to construct, and can be difficult to transport. However, as modern
tunnels become longer, the cost of tunnel boring machines versus drill and blast is actually
less, this is because tunneling with TBMs is much more efficient and results in a shorter
project.
Modern TBMs typically consist of the rotating cutting wheel, called a cutter head,
followed by a main bearing, a thrust system and trailing support mechanisms. The type of
machine used depends on the particular geology of the project, the amount of ground water
present and other factors.

Page 6

The above picture shows the part of a TBM that consists of cutterhead, concrete
panels, trailing gear, conveyor belt and tunnel shield. The function of each part is :
1. Cutterhead is the machines front end part. It is called as cutterhead for reason, it has
dozens of theeth that chip away the ground as it rotates. The machine will dig an
average of 35 feet per day. At the end of its journey, the cutterhead will have rotated the
equivalent of 2.300 miles, it is enough to spin from Seattle to New York. Cutterhead
tools vary based on the ground that is excavated.
2. Concrete Panels are the the part that is installed behind the shield to form rings that
serve as the tunnels exterior walls. Ring by ring, the machine pushes forward while the
tunnel takes shape in its wake.
3. Trailling gear is the support gear that will trail behind the machine. It includes anything
that the crew and the machine itself needs, from supply like grouts and grease to
amenities like restrooms and also kitchen. About 25 crew will be working in the
machine at any given time.
4. Tunnel Shield is the protective barrier between the ground and the workers and
equipment inside the machine.
5. The last part is conveyor belt that will move excavated soil from the front of the
machine out of the tunnel to barges waiting at nearby terminal. The belt will get longer
as the machine progresses, eventually reaching 9.000 feet in length.
There are two types of TBM, the first one is shielded TBM and the second one is an
open TBM. The usage of each type depends on what type of soil or rock that will be
excavated using this machine. There are two types of soil that is most likely to be excavated
using TBM in general, those types are Hard Rock and Soft Ground, so depends on these
classification, the TBM is classified into Hard Rock TBMs and Soft Ground TBMs.

Page 6

1. Hard Rock TBMs

In hard rock, either shielded or open-type TBMs can be used. All types of hard
rock TBMs excavate rock using disc cutters mounted in the cutter head. The disc
cutters create compressive stress fractures in the rock, causing it to chip away from the
rock in front of the machine, called the tunnel face. The excavated rock, known as
muck, is transferred through openings in the cutter head to a belt conveyor, where it
runs through the machine to a system of conveyors or muck cars for removal from the
tunnel.
Open-type TBMs have no shield, leaving the area behind the cutter head open
for rock support. To advance, the machine uses a gripper system that pushes against the
side walls of the tunnel. Not all machines can be continuously steered while gripper
shoes push on the side-walls, as in the case of a Wirth machine which will only steer
while ungripped. The machine will then push forward off the grippers gaining thrust. At
the end of a stroke, the rear legs of the machine are lowered, the grippers and propel
cylinders are retracted. The retraction of the propel cylinders repositions the gripper
assembly for the next boring cycle. The grippers are extended, the rear legs lifted, and
boring begins again. The open-type, or Main Beam, TBM does not install concrete
segments behind it as other machines do. Instead, the rock is held up using ground
support methods such as ring beams, rock bolts, shotcrete, steel straps, Ring steel (Pat
2011) and wire mesh (Stack, 1995).
In fractured rock, shielded hard rock TBMs can be used, which erect concrete
segments to support unstable tunnel walls behind the machine. Double Shield TBMs
have two modes; in stable ground they can grip against the tunnel walls to advance. In
unstable, fractured ground, the thrust is shifted to thrust cylinders that push off against
the tunnel segments behind the machine. This keeps the significant thrust forces from
impacting fragile tunnel walls. Single Shield TBMs operate in the same way, but are
used only in fractured ground, as they can only push off against the concrete segments
(Stack, 1995).
2. Soft Soil TBMs
In soft ground, there are three main types of TBMs : Earth Pressure Balance
Machines (EPB), Slurry Shield (SS) and open-face type. Both types of closed machines
operate like Single Shield TBMs, using thrust cylinders to advance forward by pushing
off against concrete segments. Earth Pressure Balance Machines are used in soft ground
with less than 7 bar of pressure. The cutter head does not use disc cutters only, but
instead a combination of tungsten carbide cutting bits, carbide disc cutters, and/or hard
rock disc cutters. The EPB gets its name because it is capable of holding up soft ground
by maintaining a balance between earth and pressure. The TBM operator and
automated systems keep the rate of soil removal equal to the rate of machine advance.
Thus, a stable environment is maintained. In addition, additives such as bentonite,
polymers and foam are injected into the ground to further stabilize it.
Page 6

In soft ground with very high water pressure and large amounts of ground water,
Slurry Shield TBMs are needed. These machines offer a completely enclosed working
environment. Soils are mixed with bentonite slurry, which must be removed from the
tunnel through a system of slurry tubes that exit the tunnel. Large slurry separation
plants are needed on the surface for this process, which separate the dirt from the slurry
so it can be recycled back into the tunnel.
Open face TBMs in soft ground rely on the fact that the face of the ground being
excavated will stand up with no support for a short period of time - this makes them
suitable for use in rock types with a strength of up to 10MPa or so, and with low water
inflows. Face sizes in excess of 10 metres can be excavated in this manner. The face is
excavated using a backactor arm or cutter head to within 150mm of the edge of the
shield. The shield is jacked forwards and cutters on the front of the shield cut the
remaining ground to the same circular shape. Ground support is provided by use of
precast concrete, or occasionally SGI (Spheroidal Graphite Iron), segments that are
bolted or supported until a full ring of support has been erected. A final segment, called
the key, is wedge-shaped, and expands the ring until it is tight against the circular cut of
the ground left behind by cutters on the TBM shield. Many variations of this type of
TBM exist.
While the use of TBMs relieves the need for large numbers of workers at high
pressures, a caisson system is sometimes formed at the cutting head for slurry shield
TBMs. Workers entering this space for inspection, maintenance and repair need to be
medically cleared as "fit to dive" and trained in the operation of the locks.

Page 6

Page 6