2019年下半年，機電署的邊境及運輸工程部經歷了嚴峻的考驗。香港發生連串社會事件，大量公共設施受到破壞，我們的團隊緊守崗位，竭盡所能為市民搶修損毀的交通燈及紅磡海底隧道(紅隧)，使有關設施得以在短時間內恢復正常運作 。
機電署一直協助運輸署監察全港約2 000個設有交通燈的路口的運作情況。受社會事件影響，自去年6月以來，約750個路口的交通燈受到單次或多次破壞，先後約有1 400次的損毀記錄。
由於損毀交通燈的數目龐大，加上部分設施的損毀情況嚴重，為了可於每天早上市民上班的繁忙時間前盡量修復受損的路口交通燈，機電署特別增加維修人員數目至160人，日以繼夜地搶修，特別在深夜及凌晨的數小時內進行檢查、維修及測試，務求盡量減少對市民的影響。
鑑於維修交通燈系統的整個項目涉及多個範疇，政府成立了跨部門小組，包括運輸署、機電署、路政署及香港警務處，以處理交通燈的維修工作。跨部門小組負責統籌維修工作和協調路面的交通安排，並緊密交流最新資訊，使各部門可加快應變及維修工作。在有關部門的努力下，全港所有交通燈已於2019年12月21日恢復運作，市民可安心外出。
紅隧的平均每日行車量為11萬架次，是香港最繁忙的行車隧道之一。去年11月，紅隧受到嚴重破壞，需要臨時封閉，導致其餘兩條過海隧道在繁忙時間非常擠塞。
機電署及運輸署人員到紅隧視察時發現，行政大樓及收費廣場均受到大規模破壞，必須進行多項緊急維修，才能再次為市民提供服務。要在短時間內復修相關設施是極為艱巨的任務，但為了盡快減少對市民的不便，我們的工作團隊立即制訂了復修計劃，並即時成立「24小時專責應急小組」進行協調和建立通報機制。我們除了進行復修工作和監察有關工作的進度外，亦仔細進行現場測試，以確保所有機電系統及設施在隧道重開前運作暢順、安全。同時，透過成立跨部門應變小組，機電署與各政府部門在人手、物資及時間的安排方面緊密配合，互相協調，有助提升復修工作的效率。
機電署與各有關部門及業界伙伴通力合作，不分晝夜，以快速的方案購置、更換和恢復七個自動收費系統、所有收費亭的供電及空調系統、車道訊號系統、過高車輛偵測器、交通監察系統顯示屏幕等，並提供充足的手提式八達通機。我們最終在100小時內迅速完成了這項不可能的任務，復修紅隧的相關設施，使隧道於2019年11月27日順利恢復行車。
總括而言，以上經驗讓同事深明靈活工作和部門之間互相協調的重要性，亦有助我們優化風險管理工作，提升服務質素。
The Boundary Crossing Facilities and Transport Services Division of the EMSD faced unprecedented challenges in the second half of 2019. Our team remained dedicated under the series of social incidents happened in Hong Kong which resulted in damage to a large number of public facilities, and continued to make strenuous efforts to repair damaged traffic lights and the Cross-Harbour Tunnel (CHT) for members of the public so that such facilities could resume normal operation in a short time.
The EMSD has been monitoring the operation of around 2 000 traffic light junctions in Hong Kong for the Transport Department (TD). Affected by the social incidents, traffic lights at around 750 road junctions had been damaged once or multiple times since June 2019, with approximately 1 400 damage records in total.
Given the significant number of damaged traffic lights and that some of the facilities were severely damaged, the EMSD particularly expanded the number of its maintenance staff to 160, with a view to restoring as many damaged traffic lights as possible before the morning peak hours. In order to minimise public inconvenience, the urgent repair works were carried out round-the-clock, with inspection, repair and testing work conducted particularly at late night and during the few hours in the early morning.
Since the entire project of restoring the traffic light system involves multiple areas, the Government has formed an inter-departmental task force consisting of the TD, the EMSD, the Highways Department and the Hong Kong Police Force to handle the repair works of traffic lights. The task force not only co-ordinated the repair works and traffic arrangements on roads, but also closely exchanged latest information so that different departments could speed up their contingency and repair works. Thanks to the efforts of relevant departments, all traffic lights in the territory resumed operation on 21 December 2019, allowing members of the public to go out with peace of mind.
With an average daily traffic flow of 110 000 vehicles, the CHT is one of the busiest road tunnels in Hong Kong. Last November, the CHT was severely damaged and had to be temporarily closed, resulting in serious traffic congestion in the remaining two road harbour crossings during peak hours.
During inspection of the CHT by staff from the EMSD and the TD, it was found that both the Administration Building and the toll plaza had been extensively damaged. A number of emergency repair works were required before resumption of service. Though restoring the relevant facilities in a short time was an extremely difficult task, to minimise the inconvenience caused to the public as soon as possible, we swiftly formulated a recovery plan, set up a 24-hour dedicated emergency team immediately for co-ordination and established a notification mechanism. In addition to carrying out repair works and monitoring their progress, we also conducted detailed on-site testing to ensure the smooth and safe operation of all E&M systems and facilities before re-opening. Moreover, through the formation of a multi-disciplinary response team, the EMSD worked closely and co-ordinated with different government departments on manpower, resource and time arrangements, which helped improve the efficiency of the repair works.
With close collaboration with relevant departments and trade partners day and night, we promptly purchased, replaced and repaired seven automatic toll collection systems, the power supply and air-conditioning systems of all the toll booths, lane signalling systems, over-height vehicle detectors, display screens of traffic monitoring systems, etc. and provided adequate portable Octopus readers. We finally completed this impossible mission of restoring relevant facilities of the CHT within 100 hours, enabling the CHT to resume operation on 27 November 2019.
In conclusion, we realised the importance of being flexible at work and co-ordination among departments through the above experience, which also helped us optimise our risk management work and enhance our service quality.