SMART Tunnel

E38 Expressway
SMART Tunnel Expressway
Route information
Maintained by Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART)
Length:	4 km (2 mi)
Existed:	2003 – present
History:	Construction works started November 2003, and were completed in 2007
Major junctions
North end:	Sultan Ismail-Kampung Pandan Link Jalan Tun Razak
	Sultan Ismail-Kampung Pandan Link Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 (Jalan Tun Razak) Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway East-West Link Expressway
South end:	SMART Tunnel toll plaza near Sungai Besi Airport
Location
Primary destinations:	Bukit Bintang Imbi Cheras Petaling Jaya Seremban
Highway system
Highways in Malaysia Expressways • Federal • State

Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel

SMART Tunnel
Overview
Location	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Status	Open
Route	E38
Start	Jalan Tun Razak on Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1
End	Sungai Besi Airport on Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway
Operation
Work begun	2003
Opened	2007
Owner	Government of Malaysia Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (JPS)
Operator	Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART)
Toll	Private cars and taxis
Technical
Construction	Gamuda Berhad MMC Corporation Berhad
Length	4 km (2.5 mi)
Number of lanes	4, double-decked
Operating speed	60 km/h

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 get 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 (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).

Route background

The Kilometre Zero of the tunnel starts at Salak Interchange.

History

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. Gusztáv 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. A second TBM, Gemilang, has bored 350 m since getting underway in August 2004. Operated by Wayss & Freytag of Germany, this second Herrenknecht's TBM would drive 5.3 km in the south of the city to Taman Desa lake.

On 22 April 2006, the Gemilang's TBM completed digging on the south side at the Taman Desa outfall, while the Tuah's TBM completed digging in the Kampung Berembang area in 2 April 2007.

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.

How the SMART Tunnel works

First mode (normal conditions)

The first mode, under normal conditions where there is no storm, no flood water will be diverted into the system.

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. The motorway section is still open to traffic at this stage.

Third mode (major storms)

When this 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.

Tunnel safety

Ventilation or escape shafts at 1 km intervals provide ventilation within the motorway. To protect the ventilation system during floods, the system consist of a series of shafts; each containing an exhaust and fresh air injector. This design enables fans situated outside the SMART Tunnel to create a longitudinal flow in the tunnel between the shafts that permits the air in the tunnel to be continuously renewed and to enable extraction of exhaust fumes. The feature also allows smoke control in the event of a fire. The SMART Tunnel is also equipped with fire-fighting, telecommunication and surveillance equipments at 1 km intervals.

Technical specifications

SMART Tunnel during a test on 29 January 2007

The north bound entrance of SMART Tunnel on the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway.

Stormwater tunnel

• Construction cost: RM1,887 million (US$514.6 million)
• Stormwater tunnel length: 9.7 km (6.0 mi)
• Diameter: 13.2 m (43.3 ft) (outer diameter)
• Tunnelling method: Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
• TBM type: Slurry shield

Motorway tunnel

• Motorway tunnel length: 4 km (2.5 mi)
• Structure type: Double Deck
• Ingress and egress: 1.5 km (0.93 mi) at Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Imbi
• Length: 1.4 km (0.87 mi) at Jalan Tun Razak
• Links: 1.6 km (0.99 mi) at Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway Links: City Centre near Kg. Pandan Roundabout KL-Seremban Expressway near Sungai Besi Airport

Features

• Longest tunnel in Malaysia.
• 9.7 km (6.03 miles) stormwater by-pass tunnel.
• 4 km (2.49 miles) double-deck motorway within stormwater tunnel.
• The motorway tunnel is suitable for light vehicles only. Motorcycles and heavy vehicles are not allowed.
• Ingress and egress connections to the motorway tunnel linking the southern gateway to the city centre.
• Holding basin complete with diversion and tunnel intake structures.
• Storage reservoir and a twin-box culvert to release flood discharge.
• State-of-the-art operations control room equipped with the latest systems in operations management, surveillance and maintenance of the SMART system.
• Custom-made fire engine units consisting of two modified Toyota Hiluxes, parked at two different locations for quick access to the tunnel in case of fire on both carriageways.

Toll rates

Class	Type of vehicles	Rate (in Malaysian ringgit (RM))	Notes
1	Private car	RM 2.00	TnG and TAG are also available at this toll plaza.
4	Taxis	RM 2.00	Toll charges are paid by passengers only.

FM Radio channels available in the tunnel

Radio	Frequencies
Klasik Nasional FM	87.7 MHz
KL FM	97.2 MHz
Muzik FM	95.3 MHz
Hot FM	97.6 MHz
Fly FM	95.8 MHz
hitz.fm	92.9 MHz
Traxx FM	90.3 MHz

List of interchanges

From/To East-West Link Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
0			EAST-WEST LINK EXPRESSWAY SOUTHEAST Cheras NORTHWEST Petaling Jaya Shah Alam	Direction Y junctions
KUALA LUMPUR-SEREMBAN EXPRESSWAY MetaCorp border limit
SMART TUNNEL SMART border limit
		P SMART Tunnel operation office	TnG TAG i Customer Service Centre SMART Tunnel operation office	South bound on Cheras, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam stretches only
SMART toll plaza SMART RM (Cash) TnG TAG TAG TnG RM (Cash) Open toll system Pay toll
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/To Motorway tunnel

From/To Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
			SOUTH KUALA LUMPUR-SEREMBAN EXPRESSWAY Kompleks Sukan Negara Klang NORTH-SOUTH EXPRESSWAY SOUTHERN ROUTE AH2 AH2 Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) AH2 AH2 Seremban AH2 AH2 Melaka AH2 AH2 Johor Bahru
KUALA LUMPUR-SEREMBAN EXPRESSWAY MetaCorp border limit
SMART TUNNEL SMART border limit
0
SMART toll plaza SMART RM (Cash) TnG TAG TAG TnG RM (Cash) Open toll system Pay toll
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/To Motorway tunnel

Motorway tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
	EXIT 3801	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit south bound	EXIT 3801A P SMART Tunnel Operation Office EAST-WEST LINK EXPRESSWAY Cheras Petaling Jaya Shah Alam EXIT 3801B KUALA LUMPUR-SEREMBAN EXPRESSWAY Kompleks Sukan Negara Klang NORTH-SOUTH EXPRESSWAY SOUTHERN ROUTE AH2 AH2 Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) AH2 AH2 Seremban AH2 AH2 Melaka AH2 AH2 Johor Bahru	Tunnel interchange
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Water gate boundary
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Wet sections
		Motorway Tunnel Wet sections
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Wet sections
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Water gate boundary
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections
	EXIT 3802	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit north bound	EXIT 3802A SULTAN ISMAIL LINK TUNNEL JALAN DAVIS KUALA LUMPUR INNER RING ROAD Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang EXIT 3802B KUALA LUMPUR MIDDLE RING ROAD I JALAN TUN RAZAK (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang	Tunnel interchange Lower floor
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART TUNNEL Start/End of expressway SMART border limit
KUALA LUMPUR MIDDLE RING ROAD 1 DBKL border limit
			NORTH KUALA LUMPUR MIDDLE RING ROAD I JALAN TUN RAZAK (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang

Sultan Ismail link tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
	EXIT 3802	Sultan Ismail link tunnel Dry sections Tunnel entry south bound	MOTORWAY TUNNEL Cheras Petaling Jaya Kompleks Sukan Negara AH2 AH2 Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) AH2 AH2 Seremban AH2 AH2 Melaka AH2 AH2 Johor Bahru	Tunnel interchange Upper floor
MOTORWAY TUNNEL Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART TUNNEL Start/End of expressway SMART border limit
JALAN DAVIS DBKL border limit
			NORTHWEST SULTAN ISMAIL-KAMPUNG PANDAN LINK (JALAN DAVIS) KUALA LUMPUR INNER RING ROAD Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang

Tunnel in popular culture

• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Truly Malaysia on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Man Made Marvels on the Science Channel.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Megastructures on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.

See also

• List of long tunnels by type

External links

• SMART Tunnel
• MMC Corporation Berhad
• Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia
• SMART Tunnel - Mott MacDonald Project Page