I,Malaysian!

As most Malaysians already knew, Kuala Lumpur's "Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel" or SMART Tunnel is opened since 14th May to the public. The tunnel is 3km in length and starts near the Kg. Pandan roundabout to somewhere near the ends of the KL-Seremban Highway. The motorway will then be connected to existing road networks by ingress and egress connection links to Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Kuala Lumpur – Seremban Highway.

The main objective of constructing the SMART Tunnel is to reduce the amount of floodwaters entering KL. The tunnel is split into two sections -- - upper section for vehicles and below section for a giant storm water pipe that connects to the river or sea.

There are three modes of functions, taken from Wikipedia,

First Mode (no storms),
The first mode, under normal condition where there is no storm or low rainfall, no flood water will be diverted into the system.Under the second mode, SMART system will be activated and this happens when there is moderate storm.

Second mode (most storms),
When the second mode is activated, flood water is diverted into the bypass tunnel in the lower channel of the motorway tunnel and it is important to note, that, up to this stage, the motorway section is still open to traffic.

Third Mode (major storms),
At the third mode of operation the motorway will be closed to traffic. With extensive and effective monitoring stations, when the third mode of operation is needed, the motorway will be closed to traffic. Sufficient time will be allocated to allow the last vehicle to exit the motorway before the automated water-tight gates are opened to allow flood water to pass through. The motorway will be reopened to traffic within 48 hours after the closure.

From now to June 2007 the SMART Tunnel is opened for free to all. The toll rate has not being decided yet but it will cost around RM3.50 per one way trip. Here's a video clip for you to understand the tunnel better:
taken from KL THIS MONTH:



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