SINGAPORE : There have been more reports of soil erosion as rain
continues to pour over Singapore.
At the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, heavy downpour caused some soil
movement near the top of the hill, says NParks.
This comes a day after some 70 metres of slope at the NUS Business
School in Kent Ridge nearly collapsed due to soil erosion.
Rectification work has begun to ensure that the area is safe.
Following the near-collapse of the slope next to the NUS Business
School on Wednesday, geo-technical experts and engineers are not
taking any chances.
They have installed monitoring devices to check for any shifts in
the buildings, and put up precautionary measures including
cordoning off the affected area.
Associate Professor Lee Fook Hou, Geo-Technical Engineer at NUS,
said: "The fail part is actually quite far forward of the building,
so it is quite likely the fail portion would have past underneath
the piles of the building.
"So I would say that the piles would remain untouched but perhaps I
think it is a good thing to put in a few sensors to monitor the
movement of the building at the same time."
Elsewhere in the campus, thorough checks are being carried
out.
Ian Tan Eng Kiong, Senior Manager of Estate Maintenance at NUS,
said: "Our management has already engaged a consultant to do a risk
assessment of all the slopes within NUS.
"Experts are being engaged and some risk assessment has been done.
In fact, some of the areas which considered, so called there is a
bit of high risk, measures have been taken.. doing soil nailing and
so forth to ensure the stabilisation of the slopes."
The eroded slope has since been covered with canvas to prevent more
water from seeping through as workers work in the continuous rain,
trying to pump out water overflowing from the broken drains.
The Meteorological Service said the current spell of rainy weather
should improve during the weekend.
They said there would be more sunshine this weekend and in the
coming week, though showers of short duration can still be
expected. - CNA/de