King Tide at Btg Lupar River

King tide occurs several days each month and during the period, the river is usually filled up to the brink during tide. The tide occurs twice a day. During this period also, low lying areas usually experienced flooding. This year, the King Tide occurs during the Hari Raya Festival and most of the houses were inundated by water.

During high tide, tidal bore is usually can get very huge at the Btg Lupar river. The sight of the huge tidal bore at the Btg Lupar river were said to be very spectacular. Unluckily I cannot get the glimpse of the tidal bore during this period of time.


This Cargo vessel took the opportunity of the high tide to travel upstream to save fuel cost. The wharf is dwarfed by the size of the vessel due to the high tide.



It just need another day or two of continuous raining to make this house totally flooded by the high tide.

Sri Aman Waterfront

View of the almost completed waterfront in Sri Aman, Sarawak. The waterfront is on the riverbank of the Batang Lupar River which is famous for its tidal bore.

Once completed, the waterfront will serve several purposes.

• One is to strengthen the riverbank from further erosion.
• Another is to beautify the riverbank.
• Third is to allow people to view the tidal bore phenomena closely at the waterfront.
• The last use of the waterfront is as venue for the annual boat race held in Sri Aman.
• Of course, there will be a lot of other uses of the waterfront and if you have a good idea please feel free to chip in the comment below.

Picture below shows the almost completed waterfront along the river bank of the Sg. Batang Lupar.

Flood Control

During high tide, flooding usually occurs due to water overflowing into the river tributaries as the results of high tide from the main river. In order to prevent flooding from occurring every time the tide is very high, the water level of the river tributaries need to be controlled using tidal gate. Once the tidal gate is in place and functioning, a lot of things can be constructed from the previously river tributaries. For example, pathway can be constructed on top of the river tributaries.

The picture below shows water level during high tide along Batang Lupar.

The picture below shows the tidal gate releasing water into the main river (Btg Lupar) during low tide. When constructing the tidal gate, ensure that the tidal gate is constructed above the low tide of the main river, otherwise the tidal gate will never ever being able to automatically open to release the water from the river tributaries.



Even during low tide, the tidal gate is being shut to prevent the water from the main river from entering the tributaries.
As the tide getting higher, the tidal gate played its major role preventing water from the main river from entering the tributaries which eventually controls the inner land from being flooded. It is very important to ensure that the tidal gate always functioning by carrying out periodic maintenance.