Saturday, February 28, 2009

macritchie reservoir or lower peirce reservoir?

lower peirce reservoir (a)



macritchie reservoir (b)



macritchie reservoir is singapore's oldest reservoir. the reservoir was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the impounding reservoir or thomson reservoir.

in 1891, the holding capacity of the impounding reservoir or thomson reservoir, after its designer john turnbull thomson, was expanded. municipal engineer james macritchie oversaw this expansion and the reservoir was named after him in 1922.

lower peirce reservoir was originally known as the kallang river reservoir. it is singapore's second reservoir and it was impounded across the lower reaches of the kallang river in 1910. in 1922, it was renamed peirce reservoir in commendation of the services of robert peirce, who was the municipal engineer of singapore from 1901 to 1916.

in 1975, a major water supply project to develop new water resources was undertaken to support singapore's rapid housing and industrialisation programmes. a dam was constructed at the upper reaches of the peirce reservoir, forming the upper and lower peirce reservoirs.


now, which is which? which picture shows the macritchie reservoir, (a) or (b)?

there are more similarities between macritchie and lower peirce reservoirs than between lower peirce and upper peirce reservoirs although they share the name.

some features which are common to both macritchie and lower peirce are: the lamp and the bench. the benches are painted white at lower peirce but green at macritchie.



but, there are so features that are unique to each reservoir. for example, these are found at the lower peirce but not at the macritchie reservoir.



and this is found exclusively at macritchie reservoir.

9 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

Your quiz is too easy for me. I often to go MacRitchie to fetch my son from his kayaking training and watch the races. Once I even stood on the very spot depicted in your photo to video the races.

I haven't been to Pierce for years. Do they have kayaking there? If not, that shd be another of the differences.

Anonymous said...

So what's the answer please? Both pics look alike. Is it a trick question?LOL! Anyway I'll guess its pic A.
I grew up in S'pore but I never went to the reservoirs as we lived on the east coast.We had the beach behind our house before it was reclaimed by the HDB to develope Marine Parade.Have a nice Sunday everyone!

Victor said...

The quiz is also too easy for me. I could recognise Picture A as the Lower Seletar Reservoir. Not so sure about Picture B but since there are only 2 choices, Picture B must be MacRitchie Reservoir. Q.E.D. (Quite Easily Done.)

yg said...

chun see, there is no watersports activities at the lower peirce. so far, those reservoirs where i have seen canoeing, kayaking and rowing are macritchie, bedok reservoir, lower seletar, upper seletar and pandan.

Admin said...

I guess that (b) is MacRitchie Reservoir. The background looks like the location of the 'flower clock' of MacRitchie Reservoir park. Flowers still there, but clock has been dismantled.

Pic (a) is Lower Peirce Reservoir. In the background is the dam, and there's a children's playground at the foot of the slope behind it.

Victor said...

Oops, I mean Picture A is Lower Peirce Reservoir, not Lower Seletar Reservoir.

Anonymous said...

You have given away the two answers.
The two features which are found at lower pierce, appear in picture (a), so picture (b) is macritchie reservoir. Anyway, I have fond memories of this pavilion at (b). This was my ‘pak thor’ place in the early 70s. The flower clock in the background is still there but without its hands, and the path where the three walkers are heading, still exists. The only change is there wasn’t a curved wall then.

yg said...

mr nah, when you 'pak thor-ing' in the early 70s, you failed to notice the curved wall.

yg said...

jean, i believe you have not been to these reservoirs. picture (a) is the lower peirce reservoir. it may not be as popular and well-known as the macritchie reservoir but it just as scenic and nice.