Inner Harbour tidal gate project mothballed for now – Secretary

Macau authorities have for now shelved a plan to erect a tidal gate in the inner harbour of the city, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo Arrais do Rosário said, yesterday.

The notion of building a barrier at the entrance of a waterway in the Inner Harbour district to prevent typhoon-caused flooding in nearby areas surfaced as early as 2008 when typhoon Hagupit brought Macau to its kneels.

It became particularly and painfully relevant when another super-typhoon, Hato, wreaked havoc in the city, claiming at least 12 lives.

However, at a presentation with lawmakers yesterday over the progress of government work on typhoon prevention, the secretary said that the authorities were unlikely to turn the mega-project into a reality, citing high construction costs and overall inefficiency as factors.

“I can’t tell you whether to push ahead with the project or not, but personally I don’t think there is a high possibility,” said the secretary.

Instead, the public works officials are turning to an additional pumping station instead.

The project is expected to result in better drainage. In 2021, the authorities forked out as much as MOP110 million (US$13.63 million) to build a pumping system in the northern area of the Inner Harbour.

A second station will sit somewhere in the south, and take about two years to be built.

“In the past two years, the north of the inner harbour was alright when it was stormy and rainy,” said Rosario. “We believe that the problem in the south would be solved after the project completes.”

In fact, the government officials also presented yesterday the results of an analysis of the feasibility of a tidal barrier conducted by two mainland Chinese companies earlier.

They said that a 552-metre-long gate would be capable of warding off storm surges rising as high as 3.85 metres – effective enough in keeping the Inner Harbour clear of floods.

However, despite such a flood prevention structure, the eastern and southern areas of the Macau Peninsula would still suffer flooding in inclement weather, according to the research that simulated different bad weather conditions during a strong typhoon.   

“A tidal gate may cost billions of patacas, only to be activated once or so a year,” said the secretary. “Let’s wait until after we finish the pumping station project and see whether it works, before we look into the possibility of a tide gate again.”

Since super typhoon Hato left a trail of destruction across the city in August 2017, voices have grown louder for higher preparedness for typhoons.

Fong Soi Kun, the then weather chief, was forced to step down after failing to raise signals in time for residents to batten down the hatches for the deadly tropical storm in 18 years.