ST : Liat Towers may get 60cm wall

Jul 29, 2010

Liat Towers may get 60cm wall

By Jessica Lim

A KNEE-HIGH flood barrier is set to come up in front of Liat Towers, to protect the shops below street level which were flooded three times in the last two months.

The building's owner is waiting for the go-ahead to put up a roughly 40m-long barrier on the Orchard Road pedestrian mall, to stretch from Orange Julius food and drink outlet on the Paterson Road side of the building to Hermes boutique on the Angullia Park side.

One-quarter of the 60cm-high and 15cm-thick barrier will be made of concrete and immovable. The rest of it will be of aluminium or glass, and would be put up only during heavy rainfall.

Supervisors at Goldvein, which owns the building, met architects and engineers a fortnight ago to come up with the plan. The price has yet to be decided.

Mr Chik Hai Lam, a Goldvein supervisor, said a proposal would be submitted to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) this week. He said: 'We have to reassure tenants that we are doing something, it is our responsibility.'

Experts told The Straits Times that the cost could range from $40,000 to $200,000, depending on the design and materials used. 'These things can be expensive, but effective,' said Mr Eugene Seah, owner of cost management company Davis Langdon and Seah, which helped build flood stop-gaps for Wisma Atria and Ion Orchard malls.

In an unseasonably rainy year, floods occurred on June 16 and 25 and July 17.

Liat Towers was particularly badly affected in the June 16 flood. Water spilt into the lower level and submerged shops up to waist-high.

URA confirmed it would 'work closely with the management of Liat Towers on any proposed works to address the flooding issues and expedite the necessary approvals'. The government agency will also work with them to ensure that the proposed works are well integrated with the building and with Orchard Road.

Liat Towers' tenants welcomed the move. Said Ms Goh Wee Ling, spokesman for US fast-food chain Wendy's, which has been closed for the past six weeks: 'Such preventive measures will give us peace of mind.' She added that the chain has lost more than half a million dollars because of the floods.

Such barriers could prevent floods like those experienced recently, said Professor Chiew Yee Meng, head of Nanyang Technological University's Division of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering.