Report No. : GEO Report No. 147

Report Title : Review of Landslides in 2000 (2004), 94 p.

Author : K.K.S. Ho, H.W. Sun, H.W. Chan & T.M. Lam

Abstract

The aims of this report are to review the performance of Government's slope safety system and identify improvement to current slope engineering practice through a systematic diagnosis of the landslides that occurred in 2000. The review forms part of the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO)'s landslide investigation programme which was introduced following the 23 July 1994 Kwun Lung Lau landslide.

A total of 322 genuine landslides was reported to the GEO in 2000. All the landslide data were examined and a total of 42 landslide incidents was selected for follow-up study by GEO's landslide investigation consultants, Fugro Maunsell Scott Wilson Joint Venture and Halcrow China Limited respectively. These studies provided information and insight on the types and mechanisms of landslides in Hong Kong and enabled identification of areas requiring attention.

Based on the landslide data in 2000, the annual failure rate in terms of sizeable landslides (i.e. with a failure volume of 50 m³ or above) on engineered man-made slopes with geotechnical submissions processed by the slope safety system is about 0.02%.

Overall, more than 99.9% of the engineered slopes performed satisfactorily without occurrence of any sizeable landslides in 2000.

Recommendations for further improvement of the slope engineering practice in Hong Kong are given in this report. These include promulgation of improved slope engineering practice in respect of rock cut slopes, robust design and improved detailing, further enhancement of the geotechnical practice of temporary trench excavations near slopes and tightening up of selected administrative aspects of the slope safety system.

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