香港耗資38億美元的雨水隧道網絡

香港耗資38億美元的雨水隧道網絡

The city's complex drainage system protects Hong Kong from once-disastrous flooding caused by seasonal typhoons. But will it be strong enough to withstand the effects of climate crisis?

香港復雜的排水系統(tǒng)，使香港免遭季節(jié)性臺風造成的災難性洪災。但它是否強大到足以承受氣候危機的影響呢?

Below the mountains that overlook Hong Kong's financial district, drainage engineer Alex Lau is ankle-deep in water flowing into a giant tunnel almost twice the height of a double-decker bus.

在俯瞰香港金融區(qū)的山腳下，排水工程師亞歷克斯·劉正置身于齊腳踝深的水里，水流入一條巨大的隧道，其高度幾乎是一輛雙層巴士的兩倍。

Part of a ground-breaking, $3.8 billion (30 billion Hong Kong dollar) drainage network, this tunnel runs nearly the length of Hong Kong Island and has saved the city from floods that decades ago routinely cost lives and caused widespread destruction.

這條隧道是耗資38億美元(合300億港元)的破土動工的排水網絡的一部分，它幾乎覆蓋了整個香港島，使這座城市免遭洪水的侵襲。幾十年前，洪水經常造成人員傷亡，并造成大范圍的破壞。

"This tunnel intercepts about one third of the rainfall for the northern Hong Kong area," Lau says, as he looks west to the point where the tunnel fades to black. "We have about 34 intakes and all the intercepted water will be diverted into the tunnel and carried all the way to the sea."

“這條隧道截留了香港北部地區(qū)約三分之一的雨量，”劉先生說，他向西看隧道逐漸變黑的地方。“我們有大約34個進水口，所有被攔截的水將被分流到隧道里，一直帶到海里。”

Dug with two vast tunnel-boring machines over five years, beginning in 2007, the 10.5-kilometer-long (6.5 mile) tunnel, about half the length of Manhattan, has solved a basic but pressing problem facing one of Asia's wettest cities: rain. Hong Kong receives about 2,400 millimeters it per year, according to the Drainage Services Department (DSD).

這條長10.5公里(6.5英里)、約為曼哈頓長度的一半、從2007年開始用兩臺大型隧道掘進機歷時五年時間挖掘的隧道，已經解決了亞洲最潮濕城市之一面臨的一個基本但緊迫的問題:降雨。根據渠務署的數據，香港每年接收約2,400毫米的污水。

But building this network in one of the world's densest cities wasn't easy.

但是在世界上人口最稠密的城市之一建設這個網絡并不容易。

Hong Kong Island was already criss-crossed by tunnels, carrying the city's subway system and accommodating roads that slice through the mountainous landscape.

香港島已經有縱橫交錯的隧道，承載著城市的地鐵系統(tǒng)，并容納了穿過山區(qū)景觀的道路。

Consequently, the Hong Kong West Drainage Tunnel runs through the hills behind the city, tucked less than a dozen meters below the surface -- though few of the city's residents, whose lives it protects each rainy season, ever realize it is there.

因此，香港西部排水隧道穿過城市背后的山丘，隱藏在地表以下不到十幾米的地方——盡管很少有香港居民意識到它的存在，它在每個雨季都保護著他們的生命。