The
Marina Barrage is a
damA dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
in
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
built across the mouth of the bay, between
Marina EastMarina East is located at East Coast Park, Singapore. It covers 140 hectares of reclaimed land. The NTUC Club Marina East Course which is a public golf course, is located here.-External links:**...
and
Marina SouthMarina South is a peninsula adjacent to the Central Business District in Singapore, and also the name of an urban planning area in the Central Area of Singapore's Central Region.-History:...
. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008
[1]. It was Singapore's fifteenth reservoir.
The Marina Barrage was conferred the Superior Achievement Award
[4] - the highest honour of the competition for the best project entry - at the AAEE Annual Awards Luncheon held in Washington, DC, USA on 6 May 2009. The Marina Barrage beat 33 other entries to take home the top prize in this year's competition organised by the
American Academy of Environmental EngineersThe American Academy of Environmental Engineers is a society of professional engineers who have demonstrated special expertise in environmental engineering beyond that normally required for professional practice, in a process similar to what is required for medical and other professional specialty...
[5] (AAEE), becoming the second project outside of USA to win the award, in the last decade
[6].
The S$226 million project turns Marina Bay and Kallang Basin into a new downtown
freshwaterFresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
Marina ReservoirThe Marina Reservoir is a reservoir in Marina Bay, Singapore formed in 2008 from the damming of the mouth of the Kallang Basin. With the completion of the Marina Barrage on October 30 2008, the reservoir, which contained mainly salt water, became freshwater and started operations at 7 pm on...
. It provides water supply,
flood controlIn communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
and a new lifestyle attraction.
By keeping out seawater, the barrage forms Singapore’s 15th reservoir and first reservoir in the city. Marina Reservoir, together with the future
PunggolPunggol, or Ponggol, is a neighbourhood in northeastern Singapore. Presently, much of Punggol is undeveloped, although plans to turn the area into a residential new town under the "Punggol 21" initiative have begun to take place in the south-eastern parts of the area bordering neighbouring...
and
SerangoonSerangoon is town situated in the central part of the city-state of Singapore, within the North-East Region. The Housing and Development Board housing estate of Serangoon New Town in Serangoon is one of the smaller new towns. Its town centre is known as Serangoon Central, and is the target of...
reservoirs, will increase Singapore’s water catchment areas from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s total land area.
Marina Barrage also acts as a tidal barrier to keep seawater out, helping to alleviate flooding in low lying areas of the city such as
ChinatownSingapore's Chinatown is an ethnic neighbourhood featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements and a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population. Chinatown is located within the larger district of Outram....
,
Jalan BesarJalan Besar is the name of a street in the northeastern part of the Central Area in Singapore, which is its central business district. It is also the name of the electoral Jalan Basar Group Representation Constituency, of which Jalan Basar is a prominent centrepiece...
and
GeylangGeylang is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. It is located to the east of the Singapore River, an area that locals have associated, from the days of Sir Stamford Raffles, as a Malay kampong opposite facing two islands...
. However, it turns out that flooding areas have now moved to
OrchardAn orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
and
Bukit TimahBukit Timah is an area in Singapore and a hill in that area. Bukit Timah is located near the centre of the Singapore main island. The hill stands at an altitude of 163.63 metres and is the highest point in the city-state of Singapore...
.
When it rains heavily during low-tide, the barrage’s crest gates will be lowered to release excess water from the reservoir into the sea. If heavy rain falls during high-tide, the crest gates remain closed and giant drainage pumps are activated to pump excess water out to sea.
As the water in the Marina Basin is unaffected by the tides, the water level will be kept constant, making it ideal for all kinds of recreational activities such as boating, windsurfing, kayaking and dragonboating etc.
The building of the Marina Barrage required the relocation of
Clifford PierClifford Pier is a pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of Central Area, in Singapore's central business district....
from
Collyer QuayCollyer Quay is a road in Downtown Core, Singapore that starts after Fullerton Road and ends at the junction of Raffles Quay, Finlayson Green and Marina Boulevard...
to
Marina SouthMarina South is a peninsula adjacent to the Central Business District in Singapore, and also the name of an urban planning area in the Central Area of Singapore's Central Region.-History:...
(see
Marina South PierMarina South Pier is a pier that is located in Marina South, Singapore. It is used as a terminal for tourists and day trippers who are boarding small boats and ferries heading for the Southern Islands. Regular ferries to Kusu Island and Saint John's Island operate daily.Marina South Pier was...
).
Marina Barrage is open for viewing 24/7. The information counter is open from 9.00am to 6.00pm on weekdays and 10.00am to 8.00pm on weekends. Tours for a maximum capacity of 80 people to the Visitor Centre can be arranged prior to arrival.
The Marina Barrage was the ninth pit stop of
The Amazing RaceThe Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
16,which travelled to Singapore as part of leg 9.
Since completion of the Marina Barrage, there has been annual floodings in areas (e.g. Orchard Road shopping belt) which had been flood-free. There is a suspicion that the Barrage is slowing down the discharge rate of the storm water into the open sea.
External links