A major road in the northern New Territories damaged during a heavy rainstorm on Tuesday is expected to be partially reopened by Friday and fully operational next week, a Hong Kong government engineer has said.
On Tuesday morning, as the city hoisted its fourth black rainstorm signal of the year, a landslide occurred on a slope south of the Bride’s Pool Chung Pui barbecue site in Tai Po, causing a section of Bride’s Pool Road to collapse.
Though most of the damage to the road was on one traffic lane, the collapse left the other lane in poor condition, which necessitated a full closure, chief highway engineer Lam Kai-man told RTHK on Wednesday morning.
The Highways Department will work with the Geotechnical Engineering Office to explore whether a single lane can be reopened for two-way traffic as soon as possible, Lam said.
According to the department’s Facebook statement on Tuesday, the single-lane arrangement could be made as early as Friday.
Lam said on RTHK that the authorities aimed to reopen the two lanes early next week, although the progress of the repair works would depend on the weather conditions throughout the rest of the week.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised the black rainstorm signal twice within six hours earlier this week: first at 11.45pm on Monday, before lowering it to the red rainstorm warning at 2.10am on Tuesday, and again, more than three hours later, at 5:50am.
The second black rainstorm signal lasted more than 11 hours, causing widespread flooding across the city.
The Observatory recorded 358.8 millimetres of rain at its Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters as of 5pm on Tuesday, marking the highest daily rainfall in August since records began in 1884.
Contingencies
A special minibus service from Fanling to Wu Kau Tang has been put in place for some 100 residents in the vicinity affected by the Bride’s Pool Road closures, Lam said.
The authorities have received more than 480 requests for assistance, about a quarter of which were for flooding, and more than 30 fallen trees have been reported.
The Highways Department also received several dozen reports of potholes, with temporary repairs expected to be completed by Friday, Lam said.
The government’s Emergency Control Centres will remain active to receive cases, he added, calling on motorists to exercise caution when driving on slippery roads.
