Modeling of Riverine Infrastructures Adjacent to Sarawak River

This paper presents a study of flooding scenarios with and without flood protection in the Sarawak river system using InfoWorks River Simulation (RS). The Wallingford Software model was used to design the levee system as a protection structure to avoid inundation of floodwater on the highly populated floodplains from the Batu Kawa to Satok stretch of Sarawak river. However, the levee system blocked one of the tributaries, Maong river, from draining into the main channel of Sarawak river. Maong river is an urban river that drains Kuching Central Business Region and the western region of the rapidly developing Batu Kawa’s new township areas. The river is notoriously flood-prone. This paper discusses the hydrodynamic modeling efforts to protect the Maong river catchments. Modeling of levee in combination with ponding-pumping system was technically shown as a feasible infrastructure capable of reducing flooding in urban floodplain. The requirement data, preparations and details on modeling approach are presented. The results from the hydraulic model showed that the measures investigated were an effective solution for reducing floods.