Black & Veatch has won the 2017 Hong Kong Awards for Industries: Innovation and Creativity Grand Award. The award recognises the company’s role as the hydraulic designer of the recently completed Happy Valley Underground Stormwater Storage Scheme (HVUSSS) for the Drainage Services Department of Hong Kong SAR (DSD).
The HVUSS is an example of how Hong Kong is rethinking stormwater management. A 60,000m3 capacity underground storage tank was built below the famous Happy Valley Recreational Ground. The tank temporarily stores stormwater during peak times, relieving pressure on the drainage system and integrating real-time data of water and tidal levels.
“The award reflects how DSD is embracing innovation and smart city technologies to overcome climate change and urban density challenges,” said Andy Kwok, director, Black & Veatch in Hong Kong. “Rather than digging deeper drains, the scheme integrates real-time data to act like a release valve during rainstorms, and the new thinking saved the city money and avoided major public disruption along a busy highway.”
Over the last 50 years, infill development and extension of the urbanised areas into Hong Kong’s foothills have significantly increased runoff and flood risks while rainfall intensity has become more unpredictable. In August 2000, April 2006 and June 2008 severe flooding occurred in Happy Valley and its adjacent area during heavy rainstorm events.
Black & Veatch and the Drainage Services Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (DSD) also received the 2012 Planning Award for International Water Association’s East Asia region for the HVUSSS.
