**********************************************

The continuing efforts of the Civil Engineering Department's Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) in enhancing slope safety in the territory has been given recognition by the Slope Safety Technical Review Board (SSTRB).

In its No. 9 Report published recently, the international board said it appreciated that the 10-year Expanded Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme was demanding, and considered that prescriptive measures developed in recent years were helpful in the implementation of the programme.

During their visit to Hong Kong last November, members of the board were given a detailed account of the rainfall and landslide situation in 1999, including the occurrence of the Sham Tseng and Shek Kip Mei landslides.

They were also briefed on GEO's upgraded raingauge system and community services to slope safety in Hong Kong.

While appreciating that GEO's landslide investigation programme had generated useful insight to improve slope safety, the board was of the opinion that the programme should be integrated into the LPM Programme in order to maximise the benefits of the two programmes.

Among the board's recommendations were:

* GEO should further enhance community advisory and information services provided by its Community Advisory Unit established last year to improve the community's response to and awareness of slope safety;

* GEO should evaluate "extreme event" scenarios to assess the landslide emergency preparedness of the community;

* Ways should be explored to further increase productivity of slope improvement works, and

* GEO should continue the current studies on natural terrain hazards, including studies on design of natural terrain landslide debris-resisting barriers, and disseminate the experience and knowledge learned to the geotechnical engineering profession.

Commenting on the Report, the Head of GEO, Mr Raymond Chan, said he was thankful for the valuable contribution of the board members, who were eminent experts in geotechnical engineering and who enjoyed a high international standing in the geotechnical field.

"They have played an important role in assisting GEO in keeping abreast of international developments in geotechnical engineering, so that we can meet Hong Kong's needs for the highest standard of slope safety," Mr Chan added.

"The periodic review by the board on our Slope Safety System is an important step to benchmark the standard of our work with the international norm," he stressed, noting that his office was taking actions on the board's recommendations.

The SSTRB was first appointed by the Director of Civil Engineering in May 1995 to advise the Government on technical aspects of slope safety. It had met seven times in Hong Kong and its term of appointment lapsed following their last meeting in May 1998.

Recognising the very useful services of the Board, a new board was appointed in June 1998. Like its predecessor, the new board comprises three members, as consultants to the Government, for the period up to the end of 2001.

The members of the current board are Professor Lee Chack-fan of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Norbert Morgenstern of the University of Alberta in Canada, and Dr Suzanne Lacasse of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute.

End/Friday, March 3, 2000

NNNN