SMART Tunnel

im interested to share with you what i whatched in MAJALAH 3 yesterday (saturday, 2nd OCT '10) about SMART Tunnel....


Order year 2003
Construction started 2004 (tunnelling)
Project type Stormwater tunnel with integrated dual-decked motorway tunnel
Location Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Estimated investment US$510m
Completion End of first quarter 2007
Sponsors Government of Malaysia
Full specifications - In 2003, construction began on the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) project – the longest and most technologically advanced tunnel in Malaysia. The 13.2m diameter tunnel consists of a 9.7km stormwater bypass tunnel, with a 4km dual-deck motorway within the stormwater tunnel. The main purpose of SMART is to solve the problem of flash flooding in Kuala Lumpur from the Sungai Klang and Kerayong rivers and also to reduce traffic jams during the daily rush hour. The motorway is suitable for light vehicles only. SMART opened to traffic on 14 May 2007. The cost of the project was around MYR1,887m (approximately $514m). The project was commissioned by the Government of Malaysia. The tunnel handles 30,000 cars per day and has been used 44 times to divert floodwater.
The SMART tunnel begins at Kampung Berembang lake and ends at Taman Desa lake. The tunnel diverts floodwaters away from the confluence of the two major rivers that run through the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The risk of the city being flooded has been estimated to be once every 100 years

THREE-MODE OPERATION
The SMART tunnel works on a three-mode system:
First mode (Normal conditions)
The first mode, under normal conditions where there is no storm, no flood water will be diverted into the system.
Second mode (Most storms)
When the second mode is activated, flood water is diverted into the bypass tunnel in the lower channel of the motorway tunnel. The motorway section is still open to traffic at this stage.
Third mode (Major storms)
When this 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. The motorway will be reopened to traffic within 48 hours of closure

CONSTRUCTION
Kuala Lumpur sits on karstic limestone with a high ground water table. For this kind of geology it was decided that tunnel boring machines (TBMs) would be the most cost-effective and least damaging method to the most cost-effective and least damaging method to construct the tunnel.
After much research, two 13.2m diameter Slurry Shield TBMs were chosen. In terms of diameter, these are among the world’s largest. The Slurry Shield TBM consists of four main parts:

Rotary Head Cutter, with tungsten pick bits used for excavation of soil and disc cutters used for the excavation of rock Bulkhead, where a pressured bentonite slurry shield is formed to provide stability during the tunnel excavation Hydraulic Rams, which were used to drive the machine forward and keep the tunnel in its correct position Tunnel Lining Erector, used to install the pre-cast concrete wall lining
In addition to the above, the TBM featured two bogies on rails that house electrical, slurry pumping, ventilation equipment and cables/pipes.
Both Slurry Shield machines started from the JKR field area in Jalan Chan Sow Lin. One machine bored northwards, under Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Desa Pandan and ended at the lake at Ampang, behind Gleneagles Hotel. The other TBM bored southwards, under the Jalan Chan Sow Lin and the KL-Seremban Highway alongside the Sg Besi airfield and terminated at the lake in Taman Desa. Tunnelling began in 2004 and was completed in August 2006.

SAFETY
There are ventilation/escape shafts at 1km intervals throughout the tunnel. These will constantly renew the air and maintain the air quality within the motorway section of the tunnel.
To protect the ventilation system during flooding, the systems consist of a series of shafts, each containing an exhaust and fresh air injector. This enables the fans to be located outside the tunnel, creating a longitudinal flow between shafts that allows the air in the tunnel to be continuously renewed and enables the extraction of exhaust fumes/smoke in the event of a fire.

CONTRACTORS
The turnkey contractor was the Malaysian Mining Corporation (MMC) Berhad–Gamuda Berhad joint venture. Gamuda proposed a public–private funding initiative (PPFI) for the $514m project, with the government financing $342m and the remaining (MMC) Berhad–Gamuda Berhad joint venture under a 40-year concession. $163m being funded by Gamuda and its joint venture partner. The project will be operated by the Malaysian Mining Corporation The MMC–Gamuda JV contracted Mott MacDonald to carry out the feasibility studies for the dual-purpose tunnel and then provide detailed design services to take the project from concept to construction. SSP Consultants were also involved in the tunnel’s design and overseeing the construction.

Smart Meters May Not Be So Clever A consumer backlash is slowing rollouts of new electric meters

by: Joseph Galantee and Mark Chediak

PG&E (PCG), Cisco Systems (CSCO), and General Electric (GE) are all betting that energy-monitoring devices will catch on in homes. Convincing consumers that the gizmos are a good thing is turning out to be a tough sell.
Power companies have traditionally relied on workers walking house to house to monitor electricity use. Smart meters are designed to give utilities a real-time picture of electricity consumption, eventually allowing them to create pricing plans that will encourage conservation during peak hours. Around 43 percent of U.S. homes will have the new meters by 2014, according to forecasts from researcher Parks Associates, up from 14 percent at the end of last year.
Even with $3.4 billion in U.S. stimulus funds behind it, the race to install smart meters is starting to lose momentum. In Hawaii, regulators rejected a $115 million plan in July by Hawaiian Electric to install smart meters that residents and businesses would pay for. Almost a dozen California cities and counties have asked regulators to halt installations, saying the devices send inaccurate data to utilities. Homeowners in Bakersfield, Calif., have filed a class action against PG&E, accusing the utility of overcharging since smart meters were installed in homes. "The meters don't benefit the consumer; they cost a lot of money, and we can't opt out," says Joshua Hart, the California-based director of Scotts Valley Neighbors Against Smart Meters
A study by independent consultant The Structure Group found that PG&E's smart meters are more accurate than the older versions they replaced. PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno says the meters will save customers money over the long term.
Utilities and the companies that manufacture the meters are joining together to overcome the mounting resistance. In March, GE, IBM (IBM), and Silver Spring Networks, among others, formed the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative to sell consumers on the benefits of the technology. "We, as an industry, need to continue to educate folks. That is a good part of the problem," says Ron Sege, chief executive officer of Echelon (ELON), a Silicon Valley company that makes hardware and software for smart meters to communicate with utilities.
Consumer opposition isn't the only obstacle: Power companies must also get the approval of public utility commissions before deploying the meters, a process that has been stymied in some states. Duke Energy's (DUK) proposal to install 800,000 meters in Indiana was rejected by regulators because of concern that the cost of the project would outweigh potential benefits to consumers. The company is awaiting a decision on a pilot plan encompassing just 40,000 households. The Charlotte (N.C.)-based utility is also taking more time to build support for the changeover in Ohio, where it already has received approval to install about 1.2 million meters. "We've taken a more paced, deliberate approach to try to get in front of customers and those stakeholders groups as soon and as early as possible," says Mark Wyatt, vice-president for smart grid and energy systems at Duke Energy. Despite the roadblocks, companies continue to invest heavily in meters. On Sept. 2, Cisco announced plans to buy Arch Rock, a San Francisco company that makes wireless technology to transmit data from smart meters to utilities. Says Charles Carmel, Cisco's vice-president for corporate development: "The smart grid will be a multibillion-dollar opportunity for players like Cisco and others for a number of years to come."
The bottom line: Utilities and companies that make smart meters are uniting to overcome resistance from consumers in California and elsewhere.

Source : Bloomberg businessweek (16 Sept 1020)

Siemens keen to invest in smart grid tech in Malaysia

by: Sharon Kaur

SIEMENS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a unit of German engineering giant Siemens AG, plans to hold talks with the Malaysian government to invest in smart grid technology and produce electric cars (e-cars) to reduce carbon dioxide emission. Siemens Malaysia president and chief executive officer (CEO) Prakash Chandran said the proposed project with the government will involve building smart grids, charging stations and e-car infrastructure.
Smart grid is an integrated approach for the entire e-car infrastructure including various charging solutions, information and communication technologies, and billing solutions that make possible the seamless interaction of e-cars, operation centres, and power grid. “Electric automobiles and e-cars are creating a surge of development and are the cause of exciting new alliances. At the end of the day, every country will venture into it. Siemens will be one of the companies to drive growth in this area,” he said in an interview with Business Times in Kuala Lumpur.
In neighbouring Singapore, Siemens is looking to build e-car infrastructure and 60 charging stations. “We are in talks with the Singaporean government. They are evaluating the technology. We hope to implement the project soon,” he said. Siemens already generates annual revenue of some e1 billion (RM4.13 billion) with smart grid technologies, and intends to capture about 20 per cent market share by the year 2014 in a market worth e30 billion. Siemens division CEO power transmission, energy sector, Udo Niehage, said he expects growing importance for e-cars within the next 10 years. “We have pilot projects in seven cities in Germany and we are in discussion with other cities in Asia,” he said. Niehage said Siemens will invest in new cutting edge technology for power generation to continue to grow its energy business by 11 per cent per annum. “We will be investing in solar technology, wind power and power generation. Our objective is to improve group revenue,” he said.Siemens is the world’s largest provider of environmental technologies, generating e23 billion or nearly one-third of its total revenue from green products and solutions. In fiscal 2009, its total revenue was e76.7 billion and net income e2.5 billion. The Siemens-Energy Sector is the world’s only manufacturer with comprehensive expertise along the entire chain of energy conversion.

source: business times, 26.09.2010

PrivacyToday

Intelligent Billboard
Description of Issue. Some advertisers are now using intelligent digital billboards. These billboards utilize video cameras which videotape consumers watching the ads. The cameras utilize cognitive facial recognition that can determine the gender, age range, and ethnicity of a viewer. This information can then be used to determine the content of the advertisement best suited to the particular viewer. Some cameras can even attempt to discern people's emotional reactions to the billboard’s content. The cameras work by using software which analyzes facial features (like cheekbone height and the distance between the nose and the chin) to judge the person’s gender and age. The technology can even determine a person’s race. These systems can accurately determine a person’s gender 85-90% of the time. Although observation cameras are common in banks, stores and office buildings, their presence takes on an entirely different meaning when used to market products. While intelligent billboard technology may be a welcome marketing tool for advertisers, it will likely create issues of public acceptance.

Looking Ahead. Intelligent billboard technology is easily susceptible to "function creep” or “mission creep." Technologies initially envisioned for one purpose may then push the boundaries and be utilized for expanded and even unrelated purposes. Once the technology is operational, it could be used for completely unrelated purposes, such as surveillance. The companies that make these systems say that with a slight technological addition, they could easily store pictures of people who look at these billboards. Technology could then enable tracking of individuals across their lives. Pushed by the demands of advertisers and security-minded governments, these technologies are easily susceptible to abuse. Real time matches can be found with faces stored in databases in under a second, although complete accuracy is not yet guaranteed.

1st outing with my son

first time bwk bb jln2.. sj jer nak bagi kenal dunia luar..(padahal mama yg nak sangat berjalan)
so far ok la... x la meragam..mata melilau je tgk sana sini...sangat seronok....

mis