Marina Barrage, Singapore

The Marina Barrage is a tidal and flood control barrier that has been constructed across the mouth of the Marina channel at a cost of $226 million. Opened in November 2008, it has turned the waters of the Marina basin into an inland reservoir and Singapore’s largest reservoir. Marina Bay now has a stabilised water level with no tidal fluctuations. (60)

The scheme was unique in that it was designed to achieve three aims: a) to act as a tidal barrier for flood control, b) to create a new reservoir to augment water supply and c) to maintain a new body of freshwater at constant level in the heart of the city as a major lifestyle attraction.

The Singapore Marina Barrage comprises nine 26.8-metres-long hydraulically operated steel gates, built across the 350m wide Marina Channel to keep out sea water. Under normal conditions, the steel gates will remain closed to isolate the reservoir from the sea. During heavy rain, the steel gates will open to release excess storm water to the sea when the tide is low. However, when it is not possible to do so during high tide, an enormous pumping station capable of pumping up to 280 cubic metres per second will pump out the excess storm water into the sea.

Instrumentation for this project was supplied by Soil Instruments and included in-place inclinometers and piezometers. These were linked to Campbell CR1000s with Soil Instrument’s I-Site data presentation software supplied to provide the control and alarm functions. (188)