Harbour work 'not making waves'
THE massive reclamation of recent years is not to blame for bigger waves in Victoria Harbour, according to preliminary results of a new study.
The Inner Harbour Waves Study, commissioned by the Civil Engineering Department, says that waves, mainly generated by ships, are getting bigger because of increased marine traffic.
The strong tidal flow was also affected by energy reflected from the existing vertical seawalls.
The study, conducted by experts at the University of Hong Kong, said that the width of the harbour had no significant relationship to the height of the waves.
According to tests, there was also no indication that the rate of silting has increased.
The department is now considering adopting a type of low-wave reflection seawall in order to alleviate the problem.
It plans to spend $15 million this year to investigate the effectiveness of the new seawall by modifying a section of existing seawall.
The department had previously said that the size of waves within the harbour had grown so much over the past few years that they were at dangerously high levels for marine traffic.
The final findings of the study should be released in the middle of the year.
