How smart is SMART TUNNEL?

Saya petikkan ulasan mentor saya dalam blog (Pak Adib, http://adib.typepad.com/blog/) yang juga seorang bekas jurutera.

How smart is SMART TUNNEL?

Below is the latest news and it is still closed for traffic.

Sunday March 23, 2008
MYT 10:21:16 PM

SMART tunnel closed until further notice

PETALING JAYA: The SMART Tunnel has been closed since 6pm Saturday for flood-mitigation works because of heavy rains, and its management is unsure when it will be re-opened.

Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel Sdn Bhd experts will meet Monday to determine when the tunnel can be reopened, a spokesman told The Star.

The company is a joint venture between Gamuda Bhd and Malaysian Mining Corporation Bhd.

Call 1300-88-7188 for further information.-The Star

The test of the pudding is in the eating.Likewise,how smart is this tunnel to meet its main objectives:

....primarily to mitigate the recurring floods in the city of Kuala Lumpur, the financial, business and commercial hub of Malaysia. However, at the design stage of SMART, the dual purpose concept was born from the ingenuity of the project proponents and the motorway tunnel was integrated into the system to relieve traffic congestion at the main Southern Gateway to the city centre.

From the last few days traffic news,it appears that the two objectives can only be met one without the other.And the primary objective of flood mitigation over-ride the relief of traffic congestion as the traffic users like me now having to suffer without knowing when it shall be opened?IMHO, the management should inform the public how long it will take to de-water the tunnel after each flood so that we the road users can plan our routes.Below is a comment from a motorist reported by The Star:

Motorist C.S Tan said he was stuck in a crawl for almost 40 minutes along the TUDM stretch at 9am.

“Traffic was moving very slowly and it was frustrating,” said Tan, who had left his house in Happy Garden at 8am.

“When we needed the Smart tunnel it was not operational,” an irate Tan said.

From the project perspectives of success,it has three levels:

1.Construction success-meeting quality,time and cost budget(plus profit to project sponsors)
2.Operational success of the tunnel to meet the main objectives of the project.
3.Business success to meet the requirements and expectations of all the stakeholders-the government,the rakyat and the project sponsors.