SMART Tunnel

The Kilometre Zero of the tunnel is located at Salak Interchange.

In 2001 the Government sought proposals for a solution that would allow a typical flood of three to six hours' duration to occur without flooding the city centre.[1] A tunnel that would allow floods to bypass the centre was one way of achieving this, providing it was coupled with temporary storage facilities to keep flows downstream of Kuala Lumpur within the capacity of the river channel. A group led by Gamuda engaged SSP, a large Malaysian consultant engineering firm, and Mott MacDonald UK to develop proposals for a tunnel with holding ponds at upstream and downstream ends of the tunnel.

Construction of the tunnel began on 25 November 2003. Two Herrenknecht Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) from Germany were used, including Tuah on north side and Gemilang on south side. Gusztáv Klados was the senior project manager of the project.[2]

On 11 December 2003, the 13.2-m diameter Mixshield TBM, Tuah, completed a 737-m section after 24 weeks of excavation. By the end of January 2004, Tuah would start a second drive covering a distance of 4.5 km to Kampung Berembang lake. The motorway sections on the SMART system was officially opened at 3:00PM, 14 May 2007, after multiple delays.[3][4]

Meanwhile, the stormwater sections on the SMART system began operations at the end of January 2007.

By 18 July 2010 the SMART system had prevented seven potentially disastrous flash floods in the city centre,[5] having entered its first mode 3 operation only weeks after the opening of the motorway.[6]

As of September 2020, the tunnel had activated its fourth mode for the seventh time. During the flash flood on 10 September 2020, the tunnel diverted three million cubic metres of water.[7][8]

SMART tunnel entrance along Jalan Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The first mode, under normal conditions where there is no storm, no flood water will be diverted into the system. When the second mode is activated, flood water is diverted into the bypass tunnel underneath the motorway tunnel. The motorway section is still open to traffic at this stage. When the third mode is in operation, the motorway will be closed to all traffic. After making sure all vehicles have exited the motorway, automated water-tight gates will be opened to allow flood waters to pass through. After the flood has ended, the tunnel is verified and cleaned via pressure-washing, and the motorway will be reopened to traffic within 48 hours of closure.[9]

• World's First Dual-Function Tunnel (Stormwater Management & Road)
• Longest tunnel in Malaysia
• 9.7 km (6.03 miles) stormwater by-pass tunnel
• 4 km (2.49 miles) double-deck motorway within stormwater tunnel
• The motorway tunnel is suitable for light vehicles only. Motorcycles and heavy vehicles are not allowed
• Ingress and egress connections to the motorway tunnel linking the southern gateway to the city centre
• Holding basin complete with diversion and tunnel intake structures
• Storage reservoir and a twin-box culvert to release flood discharge
• State-of-the-art operations control room equipped with the latest systems in operations management, surveillance and maintenance of the SMART system.
• Custom-made fire engine units consisting of two modified Toyota Hilux pickup trucks, parked at two different locations for quick access to the tunnel in case of fire on both carriageways.[10]

The SMART Tunnel motorway using opened toll systems. All toll transactions at this toll plaza is only allowed with Touch 'n Go cards or SmartTAG.

The entire expressway had its speed limit of 60 km/h.

Legend:

• I/C - interchange, I/S - intersection, RSA - Rest and service area, OBR - overhead bridge restaurant, L/B - layby, V/P - vista point, TN - tunnel, T/P - toll plaza, BR - bridge

From/to E37 East–West Link Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
0			East–West Link Expressway Southeast Cheras Northwest Petaling Jaya Shah Alam	Direction Y junctions
Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway ANIH Berhad border limit
SMART Tunnel (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG ETC only) SMART border limit
		SMART Tunnel operation office	TnG TAG Customer Service Centre SMART Tunnel operation office	South bound on Cheras, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam stretches only
SMART toll plaza				Accepts electronic toll payment (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG only)
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/To Motorway tunnel

From/to E37 Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
			South Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway Kompleks Sukan Negara Klang North–South Expressway Southern Route Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Seremban Melaka Johor Bahru
Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway ANIH Berhad border limit
SMART Tunnel (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG ETC only) SMART border limit
0
SMART toll plaza				Accepts electronic toll payment (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG only)
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/To Motorway tunnel

Motorway tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
	EXIT 3801	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit south bound	EXIT 3801A SMART Tunnel Operation Office East–West Link Expressway Cheras Petaling Jaya Shah Alam EXIT 3801B Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway Kompleks Sukan Negara Klang North–South Expressway Southern Route Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Seremban Melaka Johor Bahru	Tunnel Interchange
Motorway Tunnel Conversion from dry to wet
		Motorway Tunnel Wet sections
Motorway Tunnel Conversion from wet to dry
	EXIT 3802	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit north bound	EXIT 3802A Sultan Ismail Link Tunnel Jalan Davis Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang EXIT 3802B Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang	Tunnel Interchange Lower floor
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART Tunnel Start/End of expressway (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG ETC only) SMART border limit
Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 DBKL border limit
			North Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang

Sultan Ismail link tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
	EXIT 3802	Sultan Ismail link tunnel Dry sections Tunnel entry south bound	Motorway Tunnel Cheras Petaling Jaya Kompleks Sukan Negara Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Seremban Melaka Johor Bahru	Tunnel Interchange Upper floor
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/End of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART Tunnel Start/End of expressway (Touch 'n Go and SmartTAG ETC only) SMART border limit
Jalan Davis DBKL border limit
			NorthWest Sultan Ismail–Kampung Pandan Link (Jalan Davis) Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang

• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Truly Malaysia on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Man Made Marvels on the Science Channel.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in an episode of Megastructures on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.
• The SMART Tunnel was featured in episode 2, Season 1, of Build It Bigger on the Science Channel.

• List of long tunnels by type

• SMART Tunnel
• MMC Corporation Berhad
• Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia
• SMART Tunnel - Mott MacDonald Project Page