SMART Southern Tunnel Breaks Through in Kuala Lumpur The southern drive of the SMART (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel) project in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was completed on 22nd April, 2006 when 'Gemilang', SMART's second TBM (Herrenknecht's machine S-253) holed through into the fibre glass reinforced bars of a partially excavated shaft at the storage reservoir (near Desa Water Park) at Taman Desa. The glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) bars, manufactured in China, were supplied by Rockbolt Systems of Switzerland. The TBM started its tunnelling activities on 31st August, 2004 at the north ventilation shaft, near Padang JKR in Jalan Chan Sow Lin and has since bored 3,968 metres to reach the end of the drive. During the drive, the TBM has erected 2,334 rings that make up the southern portion of the total 9.7 km-long stormwater and road tunnel. The southern drive has been completed one month ahead of schedule. The TBM has been sold back to Herrenknecht inclusive its slurry separation plant. Visit www.herrenknecht.com and www.rockboltsystems.com'Tuah', SMART's first 13.26 m-diameter mixshield (machine S-252), has restarted its northward tunnelling on the third week of April 2006 and is expected to complete the section of the tunnel by the end of the year to catch up with the project schedule. The SMART project is now 75.4% complete and is expected to be fully operational by the middle of next year. The concrete segment moulds have been produced and supplied by CBE. Visit www.cbe-tunnels.com SMART is being implemented under the joint supervision of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage and the Malaysian Highway Authority. The contractor is the MMC-Gamuda JV. SMART is primarily a flood mitigation project to mitigate flooding in the city centre. It will divert excess stormwater away from the catchment area (downstream of Ampang River and Klang River) through a holding pond, a bypass tunnel and a storage reservoir before it is released back to Klang River downstream and Krayong River. The project has a secondary purpose which is to act as an alternative traffic dispersal system between the southern gateway and the city centre. Click here and my/16. Read E-News Weekly 3/2006, 39/2005, 3/2005 & 9/2004. Visit www.smarttunnel.com.my 19/06. Herrenknecht's machine S-253 in the final parking position before dismantling.