Asian cities that have succeeded in combating local flooding

Not only Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, but many big cities in Asia such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Tokyo also have to deal with serious flooding when the rainy season comes. Not leaving rain and sunshine to the sky, the cities mentioned above have had special solutions to prevent flooding, helping people here feel secure to live and work when the rainy season returns.

Japan and anti-submarine works

Like many capitals of countries around the world, Tokyo’s capital Japan also benefit from being located near a large river, bringing convenience in trade and abundant water supply for residents here. However, major rivers also bring a high risk of flooding to this city, especially after the snow melts or the rainy season returns.

In order to combat the inundation that always threatens the lives and jobs of millions of residents here, the Japanese government decided to build an underground drainage canal outside the urban periphery, or project G, in 1993. This huge project took 13 years to complete with a cost of 3 billion USD at the time. This work is also known by the Japanese people by the name: Pantheon underground because of its massiveness.

This underground drainage work is actually a giant water tank located 50m below the ground. It is made up of 5 storage pillars 75m high, 32m wide and connected by pipes 6.3km long and 10m in diameter. This pipeline leads to a huge water tank 25m high, 177m long and 78m wide, larger than a football field. This is the place to store water every time the snow melts or the rainy season comes back to avoid flooding on the surface of Tokyo city.

Then, the water from this underground storage tank will be pumped to the Endo River by large-capacity pumps to avoid flooding the whole city. Thanks to the “underground Pantheon” system, the people of Tokyo and the surrounding areas no longer have to face the fear of flooding for many years.

Singapore and its large-scale reservoirs

Another island country in Asia that also faces heavy flooding is Singapore. In addition to preventing flooding, this island nation must also ensure a source of fresh water for daily life of millions of people here.

For that reason, Singapore has implemented the construction of reservoirs to store water across the country so that it can both prevent flooding and use this water to make fresh water for people’s daily life. In total, Singapore has built 17 freshwater reservoirs scattered across the country, bringing significant efficiency in flood prevention as well as domestic water storage.

The most notable in this anti-flood system is the Marina lake and dams. This work was built at a total cost of up to 135 million USD and is the largest water reservoir in Singapore. Not only has a reservoir, this work also comes with a dam to prevent sea water from entering, helping to store fresh water for the whole city.

Malaysia and the “2 in 1” SMART tunnel

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, has a great advantage when it is located near the confluence of two large rivers. However, besides the benefits that this geographical location brings, the people of Kuala Lumpur also have to cry and laugh every time the rainy season floods.

Therefore, the city government decided to do something to solve the flooding here and launched the SMART “2 in 1” tunnel, a one-of-a-kind tunnel that both serves traffic and can become a flood outlet when the water level here rises.

Under normal weather conditions, the tunnel will be used as a road tunnel for vehicular traffic. When river water overflows, the tunnel becomes a flood drainage channel just below the roads to avoid flooding.

The 9.7km SMART tunnel in the capital Kuala Lumpur has become the world’s first combined road tunnel for flood drainage, built at a cost of about 500 million USD. Since being put into operation, this tunnel has proven its effectiveness when heavy floods have not occurred to the people of the capital Kuala Lumpur as before. In 2011, Malaysia was honored that the SMART tunnel received the UN Habitat Honor Award for innovative and unique storm water and rush hour traffic management.