Done By : Loh Bing Sen (31)

Secondary : 2B

•Introduction•Benefits of having Marina Barrage•Purposes•Location

Marina Barrage is a government-commissioned dam built across the mouth of Marina Channel to create Singapore's 15th reservoir, Marina Reservoir. Officially opened on 31 October 2008, it separates the water in Marina Basin from the seawater. It has been considered an engineering marvel because of its magnitude and complexity, and it was the subject of an August 2008 episode of Discovery Channel's Man Made Marvels Asia. The barrage is dubbed a three-in-one project as it serves three objectives: create a new source of water supply, act as a tool for flood control, and provide a new lifestyle attraction.

HistoryBy 1987, the government had successfully completed its ten-year drive to clean up Singapore River and Kallang River. It was at this time that then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, now minister mentor, mooted the idea of damming up Marina Basin to create a large freshwater lake. However, this was not yet feasible with the existing technology. It was only in 2004 that the government set the wheels in motion by calling a tender for the project. The contract was awarded to local contractor Koh Brothers and construction began in early 2005.

DescriptionThe barrage works using a system comprising gates and pumps. It has nine 30m-wide and 5m-high steel crest gates spanning the 350m-wide Marina Channel, and seven drainage pumps capable of displacing a combined total of 280 cubic metres of water per second. Each gate weighs 70 tonnes and each pump 28 tonnes.

Under normal conditions, the hydraulically-operated gates will be closed. When there is heavy rain but the tide is low, the gates will open to release excess water into the sea. When heavy rain coincides with high tide, the gates will remain closed while the pumps will be activated to pump the excess water out to sea.

With this system, the barrage alleviates flooding in low-lying areas in the city, including Chinatown, Jalan Besar and Geylang. It also keeps the reservoir's water level constant, thereby making it suitable for water-based activities such as sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and dragonboating.

Visitors to the barrage can take a scenic walk on Marina Bridge, a pedestrian bridge that sits atop the nine crest gates and connects Marina South to Marina East. At the Marina South end of the bridge is the Visitor Centre, which has been designed to look like a seashell from the top. This two-storey building houses the pumping station, some food and beverage outlets, and the Sustainable Singapore Gallery. The gallery showcases Singapore's efforts towards achieving environmental sustainability and aims to educate the public on major environmental and water issues.

The roof of the Visitor Centre is completely covered with grass, hence its name, the Green Roof. It serves as a viewing deck and a venue for private functions and recreational activities such as picnics. It also doubles up as an insulation layer, lowering the building's indoor temperature and reducing its air-conditioning requirements. Singapore's largest solar park, measuring 1,200 square metres, is located here too. The 405-panel solar park converts solar energy into electricity to supplement the daytime power requirements of the barrage.

Built across the mouth of the Marina Channel, the Marina Barrage creates Singapore's 15th reservoir, and the first in the heart of the city. With a catchment area of 10,000 hectares, or one-sixth the size of Singapore, the Marina catchment is the island's largest and most urbanised catchment. Together with two other new reservoirs, the Marina Reservoir will boost Singapore's water catchment from half to two-thirds of the country's land area by 2011.

The Marina Barrage is the result of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's vision nearly two decades ago when he envisaged damming the mouth of the Marina Channel to create a freshwater reservoir.

•It provides water supply, flood control and a new lifestyle attraction.

•By keeping out seawater, the barrage forms Singapore’s 15th reservoir and first reservoir in the city. Marina Reservoir, together with the future Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs, will increase Singapore’s water catchment areas from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s total land area.

•Marina Barrage also acts as a tidal barrier to keep seawater out, helping to alleviate flooding in low lying areas of the city such as Chinatown, Jalan Besar and Geylang.

•When it rains heavily during low-tide, the barrage’s crest gates will be lowered to release excess water from the reservoir into the sea. If heavy rain falls during high-tide, the crest gates remain closed and giant drainage pumps are activated to pump excess water out to sea.

•As the water in the Marina Basin is unaffected by the tides, the water level will be kept constant, making it ideal for all kinds of recreational activities such as boating, windsurfing, kayaking and dragon boating etc.

•Address: 8 Marina Gardens Drive Singapore 018951

•Enquiry: Information Counter •@ 6514 5959 (9am-9pm)

•By Car/Taxi :

From East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the direction of Vivo City, take 17A exit and turn into Marina Place and Marina Boulevard before turning into Marina Mall. Drive pass the construction site of Gardens by the Bay and you will see the main entrances of Marina Barrage.

From Shenton Way, take Marina Marina Boulevard next to One Marina Boulevard or Central Boulevard before turning into Marina Street which connects Marina Place and Marina Boulevard before turning into Marina Mall. Drive pass the construction site of Gardens by the Bay and you will see the main entrances of Marina Barrage. You can simply take :

•Taxi•Car•Mrt•Bus•Marina Barrage Shuttle Bus

•By Bus :

SBS Bus 400 or Marina Barrage Shuttle BusExit from Marina Bay MRT Station. Turn at road junction and continue straight. The bus stop is about 5 mins walk from the MRT Station.

Schedule of SBS Bus 400 and Marina Barrage Shuttle Bus

•By MRT :

Nearest MRT Station: Marina Bay

•http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Getting-There.aspx•http://www.archifest.sg/2009/img/architour/Marina-Barrage.jpg•http://www.flickr.com/photos/30725479@N03/3446604318/•http://www.flickr.com/photos/longenus/3820118583/•http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/3-in-1-benefits.aspx•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Barrage•http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1387_2008-12-24.html