Highway Slope Manual

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APPENDIX E
LANDSLIDE EMERGENCY SYSTEM OF
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SAR
The Government of the Hong Kong SAR has an established emergency system for
responding to natural disasters including landslides. Details of the system, including the
activation of an Emergency Monitoring & Support Centre in the event of a major disaster, are
contained in the Hong Kong Contingency Plan for Natural Disasters (Security Bureau, 1999).
This Contingency Plan also summarises the responsibilities of the Government Bureaux and
Departments involved.
The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of the Civil Engineering Department is
responsible for issuing Landslip Warnings (in consultation with the Hong Kong Observatory)
and advising other Government Departments on potential dangers due to landslides and
measures to deal with them. The Highways Department (HyD) is responsible for, among
others, the clearance of blockage and repair of damaged public roads caused by landslides, and
also urgent repair of failed slopes affecting public roads.
To warn the public of the landslide risk during periods of heavy rainfall, the GEO
operates a Landslip Warning System on the basis of recorded rainfall data and the latest
weather information including short-term rainfall forecast from the Hong Kong Observatory.
The GEO also maintains a 24-hour service to provide geotechnical advice to Government
Departments on any emergency action to be taken in case of danger, real or suspected, arising
from landslides. The operation of the GEO emergency system is documented in the GEO
Emergency Manual (GEO, 1998). The HyD also operates Emergency Control Centres to
deal with emergency on roads including that arising from landslides. Details of the HyD
emergency system are contained in the Handbook on Emergency and Storm Damage
Organisation (Highways Department, 1998). Responsibilities of Government Departments,
major transport operators and agencies in handling an emergency where traffic and transport
are seriously affected, are given in the Emergency Transport Arrangements document of the
Transport Department (1999).
Figure E1 shows the relationship between the HyD and the GEO, and the emergency
preparedness components for landslides affecting public roads. It also lists the sources of
information that can be referred to during the emergency operations.
Complementary to the Government's publicity campaign on personal precautionary
measures during heavy rainstorms and Landslip Warnings, warning signs have been erected
along roads with a history of landslides and at highway slopes that have been confirmed by
stability assessments to be substandard and included in a slope upgrading or preventive
maintenance programme. This will help to alert road users of the potential landslide risk
along such roads. Display signs, which show not only the slope registration number, but also
the name of the slope owner or the maintenance agent and telephone number of the contact
person, have been displayed at suitable locations. These signs together with the SMRIS
(Slope Maintenance Responsibility Information System) database on slope maintenance
responsibility maintained by the Lands Department will greatly facilitate quick identification