Marina Bay Research Articles

Managing Water Quality in Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay, a visionary cluster of three distinctive waterfront gardens in the heart of the city of Singapore, epitomizes the nation’s vision of ultimately being a city in a garden. Covering 101 hectares (249.57 acres) of land at Marina Bay, the site is comprised of the Gardens at Marina South (Bay South), Gardens at Marina East (Bay East) and Gardens at Marina Centre (Bay Central). When complete, the gardens will capture the essence of Singapore as a premier tropical garden city with an ideal environment in which to live and work, showcasing the application of cutting-edge innovations in environmentally friendly technology, sustainable natural resource management internationally. Bay South is located in the heart of Singapore’s new downtown. With an area of 54 hectares (133.43 acres), it incorporates two conservatories covering around 2.5 hectares (6.17 acres); steel ’SuperTree‘ structures that are 30 to 50 meters (98.42 to 164.04 feet) tall and clad with vertical green and floral displays; a series of theme gardens; open green spaces; a network of paved areas and a lake system. The lake system is about five hectares

Eastern genomics promises

A report on the Bio-IT World Asia meeting, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, 6-8 June 2012.

Occurrence of emerging organic contaminants in a tropical urban catchment in Singapore

Emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) occurring in urban runoff can negatively impact sensitive ecosystems and drinking water resources. The occurrence of 13 EOCs was characterized in the Marina Catchment, a large urban catchment approximately one-sixth the area of Singapore. The 13 EOCs included alkylphenol ethoxylate metabolites (APEMs), hormones, pharmaceuticals, bisphenol A, and a pesticide (fipronil). The APEMs were most prevalent with concentrations of nonylphenol ethoxyacetic acid (NP1EC) and nonlyphenol (NP) ranging from several ng L −1 to 6 μg L −1 and 4 μg L −1, respectively, while concentrations of octylphenol ethoxyacetic acid (OP1EC), dicarboxylated alkylphenol ethoxyacetic acid (CA3P1EC, CA4P1EC) were as high as 0.9 μg L −1. Other EOCs were present in the ng L −1 range: chloramphenicol 1–15 ng L −1, ibuprofen 2–76 ng L −1, naproxen 8–108 ng L −1, bisphenol A 30–625 ng L −1, fipronil 1–72 ng L −1, estrone 1–304 ng L −1, estriol 3–451 ng L −1. The APEMs and EOCs detected appear to enter canals and rivers from non-point sources, possibly from runoff and leaking sewer lines. The closure of Marina Bay with a barrage has resulted in significantly higher levels of APEMS compared to when the bay was open to the sea. Depth profiles show that NP1EC and OP1EC were notably lower in deep waters compared to surface waters. NP, estrone and estriol exceeded literature-based Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) values.

The science and art of managing retinal disease

The Asia–Pacific Vitreo–Retina Society (APVRS) held its 5th Congress at the brand new Marina Bay Sands Casino and Convention Center in Singapore from 19 to 21 November 2010. The meeting was entitled ‘The Science and Art of Managing Retinal Diseases’, and was truly a sharing of information with the goal of combining evidence-based medicine and the art of healing to optimally treat retinal disease during this rapidly advancing era. There were over 700 participants from 30 countries, with knowledge shared between international and Asia–Pacific speakers. In addition, as Congress President Adrian Koh (Eye and Retina Surgeons, Singapore; Retina Centre International, Singapore) wished, the conference helped to build a spirit of unity and friendship among investigators in the Asia–Pacific region and internationally. The APVRS was founded in 2006 with the visionary leadership of the late Professor Yasuo Tano and APVRS Secretary General Dennis Lam (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China), and has a promising future, with the 2011 and 2012 meetings planned to take place in India and Hong Kong, respectively.

Sustainability assessment of the impact of the Marina Bay development on Singapore: application of the index of sustainable functionality

The index of sustainable functionality (ISF) was applied to assess the impact of the Marina Bay development project on the sustainability of Singapore. The development project has three aims: water supply, flood control and lifestyle attraction; construction for the various stages began in 2005, with scheduled completion end of 2009. The period of study was 2001–2007, before and during construction. The ISF increased from 2001 to 2004, then decreased slightly and stabilised from 2005 onwards, staying below the 2004 ISF value, showing that the development has not increased sustainability. A quick forecasting exercise, for the case that the three aims above were achieved and all other indicator values the same as those in 2007, increased the ISF value by 5.1%. Continued ISF construction would indicate if the functionality, and thus sustainability, of Singapore would increase after the Marina Bay development is completed and the benefits can be realised.

Regulating Design in Singapore: A Survey of the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme

This paper is a survey of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in Singapore as a mechanism through which design aspects of private developments are regulated by the state. By comparing specifications in tender documents with what was eventually built, and tracing how much design weighed in the awarding of tenders, the survey shows how design regulations moved from an experimental phase in the 1960s when controls were sparse and discretionary, to being institutionalised by the 1980s, when controls became comprehensive, precise, and technical. Still, this did not translate planning visions directly into reality, as developers and architects successfully made counterproposals during and after the tender process. By examining the Integrated Resort development at Marina Bay against shifts in political culture and economic conditions in the 1990s, this paper concludes by arguing that the state deployed the GLS programme to procure ‘iconic’ buildings while excluding public involvement from actual design-review processes.

The Floating Platform at the Marina Bay, Singapore

(2009). The Floating Platform at the Marina Bay, Singapore. Structural Engineering International: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 33-37.

Use of Caffeine and Human Pharmaceutical Compounds to Identify Sewage Contamination

Fecal coliform bacteria are widely used as indicators of sewage contamination in surface water. However, there are some disadvantages in these microbial techniques including time consuming (18-48h) and inability in discriminating between human and animal fecal material sources. Therefore, it is necessary to seek a more specific indicator of human sanitary waste. In this study, the feasibility was investigated to apply caffeine and human pharmaceutical compounds to identify the human-source contamination. The correlation between caffeine and fecal coliform was also explored. Surface water samples were collected from upstream, middle-stream and downstream points respectively, along Rochor Canal, as well as 8 locations of Marina Bay. Results indicate that caffeine is a suitable chemical tracer in Singapore because of its easy detection (in the range of 0.30-2.0 ng/mL), compared with other chemicals monitored. Relative low concentrations of human pharmaceutical compounds (< 0.07 ng/mL) in Rochor Canal and Marina Bay water samples make them hard to be detected and difficult to be chemical tracer. However, their existence can help to validate sewage contamination. In addition, it was discovered the high correlation exists between caffeine concentration and fecal coliform density in the Rochor Canal water samples, demonstrating that caffeine is highly related to the human-source contamination.

Marina Bay in Winter

Marina Bay in Winter

Karst flash floods: an example from the Dinaric karst (Croatia)

Abstract. Flash floods constitute one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters worldwide. This paper explains the karst flash flood phenomenon, which represents a special kind of flash flood. As the majority of flash floods karst flash floods are caused by intensive short-term precipitation in an area whose surface rarely exceeds a few square kilometres. The characteristics of all flash floods are their short duration, small areal extent, high flood peaks and rapid flows, and heavy loss of life and property. Karst flash floods have specific characteristics due to special conditions for water circulation, which exist in karst terrains. During karst flash floods a sudden rise of groundwater levels occurs, which causes the appearance of numerous, unexpected, abundant and temporary karst springs. This paper presents in detail an example of a karst flash flood in the Marina bay (Dinaric karst region of Croatia), which occurred in December 2004.

Study of Heavy Metals in Dredged Spoil

There is a possibility that dredged sediments can be contaminated with heavy metals because of the recent industrial development and rapid population increase along the coastal regions of the world. Hence there is a need to examine the extent of contamination before disposal. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to study the distribution of selected heavy metals in the dredged samples collected along such southern coastal regions of Singapore as Pasir Panjang Wharf, Marina Bay, and Empire Dock. The test results showed that heavy metals concentration in dredged spoil was low, and they can be categorized into uncontaminated/slightly contaminated levels. It is likely that the dredged spoil may be safely disposed of either for land reclamation or for geotechnical applications without further treatment.