Rock cavern development in Hong Kong: past, present and future

The steep hilly terrain of Hong Kong is a significant constraint on surface development but offers great opportunities for underground rock caverns. With multi-dimensional planning vision, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has recently published a territory-wide Cavern Master Plan, broadened cavern applications and reappraised cavern engineering practice to enable future cavern development. For example, the recent project to relocate Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works in 32 m span caverns will release approximately 28 ha of prime land for other beneficial uses. This paper gives an overview of the past and present cavern development in Hong Kong and discusses future cavern development from planning and engineering perspectives, with particular reference to the Sha Tin project.