CPG Consultants (CPG), a subsidiary of Singapore-based consultancy services, infrastructure, and building management firm CPG Corporation, has announced that it is forming a core team to devise holistic coastal protection and sustainability strategies for the built environment. As a strategic addition to CPG’s multidisciplinary consultancy services, the Coastal Protection Strategy Team (Civil and Structural Engineering Division) will focus on sustainable solutions to strengthen Singapore’s resilience against climate change.

As a veteran in the built environment, environmental engineering is not new to the company. Yet, the water-related projects that CPG has undertaken in recent years have drawn its attention to the critical impact of rising sea levels and intense rainfall on Singapore.

Chief Executive Officer of CPG Consultants, Er. Yeang Hoong Goon sheds light on the impetus for forming the Coastal Protection Strategy Team. “Aligning our strength in engineering adaptive approaches with our sustainability advocacy, we take ownership in driving built environment resilience. With the formation of the Coastal Protection Strategy Team, we sharpen our focus on defining innovative solutions and developing toolkits to weather through rising sea levels and heavy rainfall.”

As a low-lying island city-state, Singapore is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The Centre for Climate Research Singapore has projected that Singapore could experience an increase in daily mean temperature of 1.4C to 4.6C towards the end of this century and a mean sea level rise of up to 1 metre by 2100. There have been more intense and frequent heavy rainfall events in Singapore, causing major flooding around the island. As part of Singapore’s National Water Agency PUB’s holistic storm water management strategy, CPG designed and constructed the Stamford Detention Tank (SDT) and Stamford Diversion Canal (SDC). These major drainage projects improve storm water flow and reduce flood risk for the Orchard Road area. During the four-year construction phase, CPG put skilled expertise into ensuring that these two measures safeguard the Orchard Road area by detaining, delaying and diverting storm runoff before it can do serious harm. The SDT temporarily stores storm water from Holland Road's drains and pumps the water into drains leading to SDC. This integrated solution helps relieve the drainage of 38,000 cubic metres or 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools of storm water during heavy rainfalls. The SDT and SDC's success also provides a benchmark for future industrial, commercial and residential developments to implement similar solutions that will help slow down storm water flow into the public drainage system. 

Sustainable strategies are not just for coastal protection. They also help optimise the environment and enhance liveability for communities. Under the Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Programme and the Kallang River at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park project, CPG upgraded the drainage for a 1.8 kilometre stretch along the Kallang River for flood control. The river channel itself was designed based on a flood plain concept and linked to a network of drains in the city. In a storm, the adjacent park area doubles up as a conveyance channel, carrying the rainwater downstream gradually to bring about an 80% increase in drainage capacity. CPG also deployed soil bio-engineering, a technique for bank stabilisation that incorporates vegetation and engineering structures to increase slope stability, the first time Singapore explored such a technique. This technique helps prevent soil erosion and gives the area a natural appearance, drawing wildlife to the riverbank and adding to the park's biodiversity.

These ongoing efforts highlight how an island nation like Singapore can be particularly susceptible to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions. Holistic coastal protection and sustainability strategies are essential in strengthening Singapore’s built environment resilience.

Last year, PUB announced the commencement of a site-specific study along Singapore's Southeast Coast, a significant step forward in Singapore's long-term coastal protection plans. Speaking on the background of the study, Lee Adam Harryman, Senior Vice-President of the Civil and Structural Engineering Division and who leads the Coastal Protection Strategy Team, explains that while climate change impacts all on the global scale, it affects different regions differently. More research contextualising Singapore is essential to create adaptation plans applicable to our island nation.

CPG is currently leading the study to develop a climate resilience masterplan and formulate climate change adaptation measures for integrated coastal protection to keep the population and critical infrastructure safe from flooding.

In addition to the primary objective of flood protection, the Coastal Protection Strategy Team will also work on integrated, multifunctional measures and complement land use visions in these areas. Such integrated measures will create new recreational spaces to enhance the liveability of the communities. Examples of potential measures include sea walls, earthen bunds, empoldering and nature-based enhancements such as mangroves.

CPG is also working on plans to nurture a local talent pool of experienced coastal protection professionals through the Coastal Protection Strategy Team. “Setting up a core team within CPG provides our staff with an opportunity to work on projects that create an impact on alleviating the adverse effects of rising sea levels. In the long run, the team’s expertise in this area will allow us to amass more valuable data backing the study and assessment of the potential impact of coastal inundation. This would enable us to continue conceptualising solutions to help Singapore and the region adopt sustainable and long-term adaptation measures,” says Lee Adam Harryman.