When I first heard of the Marina Barrage, I had no idea what it was. What was a barrage anyway. At first I thought it had something to do with their navy, but when I found out that it is a structure I became more curious. Singapore has a knack of building impressive structures in an effort to improve its image. The Marina Barrage is the latest of them. A barrage is a structure built a mouth of a river that effectively blocks the river. It is usually built to increase the depth of the river and also to separate fresh water from salt water.
In the case of Singapore’s Marina Barrage, it was built as one of the strategies for water self-sufficiency. Singapore imports a lot of water from Malaysia, and to augment this, the Marina Barrage creates one of Singapore’s largest catchbasins and eventually serves as a freshwater dam. While they are at it, it was also designed with visitors in mind and it also has some restaurants and a rooftop park. Since the water level is now controlled, the new reservoir can now play host to an assortment of water sports and activities.
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