Hong Kong authorities will use drones under a pilot project to create a catalogue of hundreds of thousands of natural slopes in the city for safety, following the identification of three large-scale, high-risk sites.
Lawrence Shum Ka-wah, the deputy head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) on Hong Kong Island, said on Monday his team would also test a landslide prediction model this rainy season after the city recorded the largest rockfall incident in nearly a century at Shau Kei Wan in 2023.
The three high-risk sites are areas near Jardine’s Lookout in Wan Chai, Violet Hill in Tai Tam Country Park, and Tai Wo Ping near Beacon Hill at the foot of Lion’s Rock.
“It does not mean that landslides will occur at these three areas, but they have been identified for hazard assessment and necessary mitigation works,” he said.
Shum revealed that 181 landslides occurred in Hong Kong last year, down from the annual average of about 300 incidents, as the city experienced 5 per cent less rainfall and fewer rainstorms.
He noted that 20 per cent of the landslides in the past 60 years occurred on natural hillsides with no prior history, thus posing considerable risks and affecting critical infrastructure.
Shum said that the office aimed to expand its Smart Slope Register catalogue of man-made slopes to include all natural terrains in Hong Kong, which he estimated to be a six-digit figure.
