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Apart from conducting regular visits to the flood prevention information centre for district councillors and schoolchildren, the department also distributed pamphlets on flooding to villagers and property management offices. In April the department launched an innovative 'Sheung Wan Flood Watch System' to enhance public awareness of flood prevention. The system is also used for sending Flood Watch messages to warn residents and shopkeepers in Sheung Wan low-lying areas about flood risks.
Civil Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) manages a comprehensive slope safety system, which has brought about a substantial improvement in the safety of slopes in Hong Kong. This has been achieved by improving safety standards and technology, ensuring the safety of new slopes, improving the safety of existing slopes, and providing public warnings, information, education and community advisory services on slope safety.
The department continues to exercise geotechnical control over private sector developments and government projects in the interest of public safety. Geotechnical engineers carry out technical audits of geotechnical designs of projects before they are built. In addition, they carry out site audits during construction to assess the standard of implementation of the design and the standard of geotechnical supervision at the site. As a result of an increase in the development of tunnel projects, the geotechnical control of government tunnel works is progressively becoming a busy part of the department's work.
In 2006, the department handled over 13 000 government and private sector geotechnical submissions and some 4 000 requests for geotechnical advice from government departments and the public. It also conducted 3 000 audits of construction sites where work was going on actively. Over 90 per cent of such sites which needed geotechnical site supervision were audited at least once while construction was going on.
The department maintains a continuing Landslip Preventive Measures Programme to ensure that slopes are safe. In 2006, about $930 million was spent on the programme. Upgrading works were completed on 282 government slopes, all of which were landscaped to blend with their surroundings. In addition, safety screening was completed on 310 private slopes.
The department inspects substandard slopes to see if they are in danger of sliding. It also urges the clearance of squatter structures built on slopes that are unsafe and advises the people living in those structures to move to safe shelters during heavy rain. In 2006, it inspected about 50 substandard slopes and completed a detailed landslide risk study for one squatter area and subsequently recommended removal of those structures.
The Government cannot solve Hong Kong's slope problem single-handedly. It needs public involvement and cooperation to reduce landslides. The department
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