LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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emergency system for providing professional assistance in landslip incidents has been upgraded through improvements in communications and transport.
In August the GEO began a new publicity campaign to reduce landslip risk by reducing public vulnerability. The landslip warning messages broadcast by radio and television were revised to give specific advice to the public to take personal precautionary actions. Warning signs are being erected along busy roads with histories of landslips and at slopes scheduled for upgrading. The message is amplified in an explanatory pamphlet advertised by television and radio announcements.
The GEO's squatter village inspection programme aims to identify dwellings which are especially vulnerable to landslips during heavy rainfall. During 1996, inspections. were made on 16 squatter villages in the New Territories. Recommendations were made for the clearance and rehousing of the occupants of more than 62 squatter huts. The GEO recommended rehousing the occupants of 470 structures after inspections at Lei Yue Mun and other villages.
In 1996, the Hong Kong Geological Survey published the 1: 20 000 scale geological maps for Shek Pik and a memoir on the geology of Lantau District. A 1: 5 000 geological map of the Ma On Shan area was published and sheet reports detailing the geology of the Ma On Shan area and North Lantau Island were also completed. The survey responded to 1525 requests for advice. During the year, geological engineering studies were completed for an area near Tung Chung new town, which is being built in North Lantau.
The GEO's Geotechnical Information Unit (GIU) in the Civil Engineering Library houses the largest collection of geotechnical data in Hong Kong. It is open to the public and served more than 10 000 users during 1996.
The GEO manages the Public Works Central Laboratory at Kowloon Bay and seven Public Works Regional Laboratories in various parts of the territory. These laboratories are accredited under the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (HOKLAS) to carry out specific tests on construction materials and to provide. laboratory calibration services. More than 440 000 tests were carried out in 1996. A new section of the laboratory was set up to extend the services to cover rock mechanics testing.
The GEO provides ground investigation services for government projects. In 1996, major ground investigations were carried out for the proposed South-East Kowloon Development, the Wan Chai Bypass and the Eastern Corridor Link, the widening of Tolo Highway, further reclamation at Sham Tseng, Stubbs Road widening, Public Housing Development at Woodside and a number of sewerage projects on Hong Kong Island and in the New Territories. Also, a large number of ground investigations were completed for the accelerated LPM Programme. In 1996, the GEO provided geotechnical advisory services to government departments on a wide range of projects including road improvement works, such as the Lung Cheung Road widening project, the construction of embankments on soft clay for the Shenzhen River Regulatory Works, drainage improvement work in Yuen Long and the geotechnical aspects of landfills and numerous other projects.
Fill Supply and Mud Disposal
The territory's fill resources are managed by the Fill Management Committee, whose secretariat is a division of the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO). The