Newsletter No. 4
Welcome to DSD’s Newsletter for Kai Tak River improvement projects.
In order to improve the drainage capacity of the Kai Tak River and to mitigate flooding risk to surrounding areas, DSD is carrying out improvement works at upstream and midstream sections of the Kai Tak River. The improvement works at these sections of Kai Tak River commenced in October 2011 and December 2013 respectively, for completion in 2017. This Newsletter provides you with latest progress of major construction works, recent public relations activities and other relevant information of the projects.
Works Progress
The construction of box culvert of about 100m long at Tai Shing Street and Shatin Pass Road has been completed. The drainage capacity of the river has been increased and hence the flooding risk of the adjoining Choi Hung Road has been reduced.
The river bed deepening works near Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen and Tung Tau（II）Estate have been completed. The river bed deepening works near Lok Sin Tong Wong Chung Ming Secondary School and Ng Wah Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools are in progress.
The associated water mains diversion and carriageway resurfacing works at Chun Yan Street have been substantially completed.
Works Progress
Removal of a sewer in Kai Tak River was completed The river was widened and thus the drainage capacity of the river has been increased.
Before and after
Although the construction of box culvert is still in progress, we have removed the existing water mains, sewers and the public utilities located at the bottle-neck of the river to enhance the flow capacity and thus relieve the flooding risk.
Before and after
Flooding Incident at Choi Hung Road on 26 September 2015
Rainfall was sudden and intensive in the afternoon of 26 September 2015. Amber Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued by the Hong Kong Observatory at 2:20 pm. The rainfall at Wong Tai Sin district once reached 103mm/hr(Black Rainstorm Warning Signal refers to rainfall over 70mm/hr). The existing drainage capacity of Kai Tak River was inadequate as the river improvement works has not been completed yet. Therefore, flooding occurred at Choi Hung Road between Shatin Pass Road and Tai Shing Street due to the intensive rainfall while traffic lanes were closed with broken-down vehicles and adjacent shops were also affected.
Emergency Team was assisting the removal of broken-down vehicles
Our site staff found that the water level in the river rose rapidly at 1:50 pm and then immediately mobilised emergency team to clear the gullies, remove debris / rubbish and also assist the removal of broken-down vehicles. The traffic resumed within 1.5 hours, which was shorter than the time required in the past.
Emergency Team was removing debris in roadside gullies
Temporary Flood Prevention Measures
Before the completion of the improvement works, we have already removed many public utilities, such as large water pipes which were obstructing water flow at the bottlenecks of the Kai Tak River, in order to increase the drainage capacity temporarily. In addition, we have also implemented a series of temporary drainage improvement measures, including:
- To regular check the existing road drains along Choi Hung Road and carry out cleansing work as necessary;
- To add more drain-holes or flow paths for discharge of surface runoff;
- To provide sand bags to those flood-vulnerable shops and the management office of nearby mansion; and
- To provide SMS flood alert to the nearby shops.
The improvement works for the Kai Tak River are anticipated to be completed by 2017. By then, the drainage capacity of the river will be greatly improved and the flooding risk will be significantly reduced.
Clearing gullies and drains
Providing sand bags to those flood-vulnerable shops / the management office of nearby mansion
Public Relations
We continue to maintain liaisons with the public and local stakeholders to keep them abreast of updated information of the projects.
“Building our Kai Tak River” Writing Competition 2015
The “Building our Kai Tak River” Writing Competition 2015, jointly organized by DSD and the Consultants and the Contractors of the Kai Tak River improvement projects, was concluded successfully. With the theme of “Our Kai Tak River”, the Competition has received a total of 85 entries from 4 primary schools and 4 secondary schools respectively in Wong Tai Sin District. The competition is divided into Primary School Division and Secondary School Division, with Champion, 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up, three Merit Awards and three Best Handwriting Awards under each Division.
The Prize Presentation Ceremony was held on 2nd July 2015 at Kowloon Walled City Community Hall. The Assistant Director/Projects and Development of DSD, Mr. CHENG Hung-leung, delivered the welcoming speech. The then Chairman of Wong Tai Sin District Council, Mr. Li Tak-hong, also attended as a guest and presented the prizes at the ceremony.
