#CNN: SMART Ranked Among World's Greatest Tunnels

CNN (Cable News Network) has listed Malaysia’s Storm Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) in Kuala Lumpur as one of the greatest tunnels in the world.

“SMART is a combined road and flood relief tunnel. It can be completely flooded to get rid of storm water and turned back into a road in a few hours,” explained Alun Thomas, head of tunnels at engineering consultancy Ramboll.

Spanning across 9.7 kilometers, SMART is the longest stormwater tunnel in South-East Asia and 2nd longest in Asia. It was listed alongside other great tunnels including the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland), Laerdal Tunnel (Norway), Tokyo Bay Aqua Line (Japan), Guoliang Tunnel, and Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (China).

Opened in 2007, SMART is expected to prevent billions of dollars of possible flood damage and costs from traffic congestion. CNN also added that the tunnel can operate 3 ways.

When there’s no flooding, it purely acts as a road tunnel.
When there are floods, rainwater can be diverted into a lower channel while the upper level remains open to traffic.
When exceptionally heavy floods happen, the tunnel will be closed to all traffic and watertight gates open to allow floodwater to flow through.

Besides that, SMART has been recognised several times by the United Nations as an innovative plan to deal with road traffic and floodwater management.

Sources: The Star, Malay Mail Online, CNN, Says.