Arup leads coastal protection study in Singapore’s north-west

In late September, Arup supported PUB during community engagement sessions to deliberate the considerations, challenges, and trade-offs in developing coastal protection and drainage improvement solutions to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Peter Stones, Associate Principal at Arup said: “Bringing the community along to understand their concerns and improve their understanding of the study’s findings is an important part of ensuring a healthier and more vibrant future for those who live, work, and play in these spaces.”

Since the project’s inception, Arup has gathered a variety of data such as rainfall records, drainage velocity and flow gauging, hydrodynamic surveys and environmental baseline surveys required to develop the flood models to inform risk analysis.

More recently, the focus has progressed to carrying out the flood modelling and evaluation to inform the understanding of the potential flood risk. This has then been used to recommend a range of potential adaptation tools and solutions that can be deployed to manage risk during flood events.

Going forward, Arup will support PUB to assess the options against key factors such as cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability, social aspects and effectiveness in flood protection. Recommendations will be taken forward to design stages to ensure long-term resilience for coastal communities.

“Effective flood risk management is our core priority, but there is an opportunity to achieve co-benefits by integrating resilience with multifunctional land use, enhance ecological value, and improve liveability through placemaking,” Peter continued.

Arup has led several similar projects in Singapore and around the world. These include working with Sentosa on a coastal protection study, the Shanghai Water Authority to develop an urban drainage masterplan and supporting the Environment Agency in the UK to enhance flood defences for Brighouse in the Calder Valley.