Macau | Flood prevention tidal gates near Inner Harbour to be able to sustain 5.8m high flood

Macau (MNA) – The Macau SAR Government announced this Thursday its short, middle and long term solutions for dealing with flooding in the Inner Harbour Area – one of the areas most impacted by the passage of Typhoon Hato last year.

The largest government project involves building retention removable floodgates at the mouth of the Wan Chai waterway near the Inner Harbour, works seen as important in case of simultaneous storm surge and high tide during a typhoon.

‘The width of these gates will be of 650 metres inside the six removable gates, with three allowing the passage of boats. The floodgates will be closed when the storm warning appears and the water level rises, constituting an artificial barrier and with a resistance to 5.8 meters of height of the tide, whose pattern of occurrence is once in 200 years, being above the 5.58 meters recorded during the Typhoon Hato,’ the government announced.

During a conference on the future plans for disaster prevention held today, the MSAR Chief Executive, Fernando Chui Sai On, considered the tidal barrier as one of the ten priority measures for disaster prevention to be initiated this year.

Although the Guangdong Province was said to support the project, the CE noted the need for co-operation with the nearby cities of Zhuhai and Zhongshan for the preliminary design process and in the planning and construction stages, which would lead to a “great deal of work” to “cover many areas.”

According to the government head, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) is currently conducting a study on the feasibility of the construction of the tidal dam in the Inner Harbor.

Stopping the waters

The government also mentioned that at the end of last year an electronic surveillance system for rainwater pumping stations was set up to ensure that they could operate in a ‘stable and continuous manner,’ with flood gates and flood protection walls built for heavy rains.

In order to reduce flooding, the canal drainage system will be reinforced, with anti-water return devices installed at the Pear River Mouth.

Additional rainwater and sewage collection stations will be put in place in the sewage network in the Inner Harbour also this year, allowing the collection of rainwater in the area of Avenida Almeida Ribeiro up to the Patane Market.

Sewers with sectioning boxes of two thousand and two hundred cubic meters will collect water, with lift stations with drainage motors relieving the flooding of public roads. The works are expected to be completed by 2021.

Cement grout will also be injected on the coastline of Inner Harbour to block raising waters with 13 wells for fixed pumps to be installed.

[Edited by Sheyla Zandonai]