My Blog, My Thoughts, My Reflections: My Reservoir In The City

When i first heard about the Marina Barrage, i was at the Marina Bay Sands office to attend a presentation. The marketing personnel had pointed out to me on the barrage, which is just a short distance away from the Marina Bay Sands project.

I finally had the opportunity to do a site recee with my colleague there on friday. We had lunch there at a little cafe which coincidently just opened for business that day. Lunch was good and i love the mee siam that we ordered. Portion is good, price is reasonable and surprisingly delicious. For fans of the famous 7th Storey Steamboat at Bugis, the restaurant will open for business at the barrage from 3 Dec. The ambience will be lovely but i reckon it may be inconvenient for people who do not drive as the place is not near the train station. Thus, you'll need to car-pool.

THE BARRAGE

The Marina Barrage has taken over twenty years of planning and hard work. Built at the mouth of Marina Channel, it will create Singapore’s 15th reservior and one with the largest catchment. Together with two other upcoming reserviors in Punggol and Serangoon, it will boost our water catchment zones from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s land area.

TAKING IT THROUGH THE ROOF

With a large rooftop garden the size of four football fields, the grass and soil double up as a form of natural insulation for the building, protecting it from the sun and preventing it from heating up as much as it would with a concrete roof. But the real star on the rooftop is the breath-taking view of the city skyline and the water beyond.

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE

Two of the key features of the barrage are its nine crest gates and seven drainage pumps. These systems kick into control the water levels in the reservior and help to prevent flooding in low-lying city areas during heavy rainfall. At low tide, the 30m long crest gates open to release water from the reservior out to the sea to prevent flooding, while the drainage pumps, which can empty an olympic sized pool of water in about one minute, do all the work when heavy rain coincides with high tide.

GALLERIES GALORE

While you are there, do check out the gallery on the second floor. Made up of six differently themed galleries that can be viewed in under an hour, each exhibit focuses on a different aspect of Singapore’s efforts to create a sustainable society.