ENG-1999 — Page 290

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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programme, engineers from the DSD will visit secondary schools and hold seminars. with students to share their experience, achievement and vision in flood prevention work.

Geotechnical Engineering

The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) was established after the landslip disasters in the 1970s. Its main duties are the control of geotechnical aspects of construction works and upgrading of substandard slopes to reduce landslip risk. Geotechnical checks were made on 12 194 design proposals during the year.

In 1999, a total of $820 million was spent on the Landslip Preventive Measures Programme. Upgrading works were completed on 267 government slopes, and safety screening studies were completed on 291 private slopes.

The slope cataloguing work under the 'Systematic Identification and Registration of Slopes in the Territory' (SIRST) project has been completed and regular updating of the Government's Slope Catalogue will continue. The 'Systematic Identification of Maintenance Responsibility of Slopes' (SIMAR) project was completed at the end of 1999 and the maintenance responsibility database is now open for public access. A new computerised Slope Information System (SIS) has been compiled containing important information on some 54 000 sizeable man-made slopes and retaining walls in Hong Kong. The information has been made available on the Internet at the Hong Kong Slope Safety Web Site (http://hkss.ced.gov.hk) since March. The web site is being enhanced to include more slope safety related information.

In order to provide a more efficient and effective landslip emergency service, improvements to the emergency system, which include upgrading of the emergency control centre and enhancement of field inspection and communication equipment, have been made.

The GEO has completed the inspection of the hillside squatter villages in the urban areas and the New Territories proper which are most vulnerable to landslips. Upon the office's recommendation, more than 74 000 squatters at landslip risk had been rehoused in the past. In 1999, the office commenced inspections on the outlying islands. By the end of the year, about 3 800 squatter structures had been inspected. An inventory of large natural landslides was completed in 1999, using low level aerial photographs. Several studies have been initiated to improve the ability to assess the hazards posed by natural terrain landslips, and guidelines are currently being prepared to facilitate the assessment.

The GEO continued with its public education campaigns on slope maintenance and slope safety by, among other things, wide distribution of promotional booklets and pamphlets, attending media interviews and public seminars, mounting displays at popular shopping centres and television broadcasting of Announcements of Public Interest on landslip warning messages. In April, a Community Advisory Unit was set up to contact private slope owners and assist them in discharging their responsibilities on slope safety. An educational toolkit on slope safety has been prepared for distribution to all secondary schools in early 2000.

Engineering geological research continues to focus on geological features that affect slope stability. Investigations of the granitic and volcanic rocks in the Kowloon and Tseung Kwan O areas have been completed and further studies have been planned.