Build that wall

A MOP56.62 million (US$7.04 million) contract for geotechnical prospecting and research for the study on the feasibility of building a tidal barrier in the Inner Harbour was granted to a consortium comprising three Chinese companies and institutes, a dispatch in the Official Gazette yesterday revealed.
The contract was granted jointly to China Water Resources Pearl River Planning Surveying & Designing Co., Ltd.; the Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources; and the Scientific Institute of Pearl River Water Resources Protection.
After Typhoon Hato seriously impacted the Inner Harbour area on August 23, the Macau government announced that construction of a tidal gate to manage tides in the Inner Harbour could start as soon as 2019.
At the end of August, the Deputy Head of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Cheong Ion Man, revealed that the plan to construct a tidal gate at the Wanzai water channel had already entered into its third stage, with an engineering survey and environmental assessment as well as other special research having already been completed.
Meanwhile, a release yesterday also informed that the Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute had been granted a MOP4.97 million contract for the water resources section of the study, for the mid and long term planning for the use and development of the MSAR territorial waters until 2036.
In a release in September of this year, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) informed that any works involving water resources in the Pearl River Delta would have to involve the neighbouring towns and cities situated in the upper reaches of the river estuary, requiring concerted regional co-operation.
The release also stated that solving the ‘complex flooding issue’ in the Inner Harbour would also require an in-depth assessment of the impact on the Inner Harbour channel and other issues such as the operation of quayside bridges, road layout, urban landscape, and cultural heritage preservation.