1. The History
Happy Valley is an upper-income residential , located in the Wan Chai district. Sometimes known as Wong Nai Chung Kuk meaning “yellow mud stream”, it is home to the Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong Racing Museum and Hong Kong Sanatorium. In early 1840, the British Army set a military camp in the area although the camp was later closed due to the increasing number of soldiers succumbing to malaria. The death rate in the area and Victoria City was high in the early colonial days, and the valley became a burial ground for the dead. As a result, the valley was renamed as Happy Valley, a common euphemism for cemeteries. In 1846, the British felt that the valley terrain was ideal for horse-racing, and thus cleared the paddy fields and developed the Happy Valley Racecourse. Tragically on 26th February 1918, there was a fire in the racecourse that claimed at least 590 lives, caused by the collapse of a temporary grandstand, which knocked over food stalls and set bamboo matting ablaze. Death continued to be a theme synonymous with Happy valley in December 1941 when the Japanese Imperial Army entered the hill east of the valley and fought their way to Blue Pool Road where a number of large massacres occurred where civilians were bayoneted.
The low-lying Happy Valley area sees frequent flooding during heavy rains. The area particularly witnessed extreme flooding in April 2006, August 2006 and June 2008. Hence the Drainage Services Department (DSD) started the construction works for the Happy Valley Underground Storm-water Storage Scheme (HVUSSS) in September 2011. It involved the construction of an underground storm-water storage tank with a capacity of 60,000m³ beneath the Happy Valley Racecourse and sports facilities. The project involves the construction of the storm-water storage tank, an inlet structure, a twin cell box culvert and a movable crest overflow side weir system. Also included was the construction of a pump station with a capacity of 5,400m³ per hour.
The system was designed so that storm water during heavy rainfall enters the inlet structure it is channeled into the diversion culvert. Excess runoff from the culvert is then conveyed to the storage tank using a movable crest overflow side weir. Water from the storage tank is then be pumped and released back to the existing storm-water drainage system on ‘normal’ days.
2. The Explore
Second meet up with the good Dr Howser in HK over the summer. “How about a storm drain. The weather forecast is OK”. Me: “Erm, a storm drain in HK in the rainy season? Er, OK”. Can’t say I’d ever considered doing a storm drain in HK. But let’s give it a go. So off we set for Happy Valley on the MTR. Soon we are clambering over the railings and on into the entrance of the storm drain. We arouse the suspicion of a bloke on the street but he soon moves on. And in we go. A bit of balancing along a pipe and we're in and going deep below Happy Valley. Initially the water is clear but soon it becomes clear that a few properties above have rather naughtily tapped into this waterway and are using it as a covert sewerage outlet. Not ideal when you are in trainers. And as the water gets deeper the catfish appear. They are massive and start to splash as we move along the tunnel. It’s a bit disconcerting at first. Deeper and deeper we go. Then it gets quite a bit deeper and the tunnel wall is lined with cockroaches. That’s it for me. Tolerance zone reached. The Dr wants to push on and find the storage tank. So I wait as he disappears into the distance. I turn my torch off and with the Dr out of sight, it’s an unnerving feeling in the humid blackness. Within about 5 minutes the Dr is back. He’s got to the point where the storm drain meets the perimeter of the tank but there’s a steepish run-off and it’s really slippery so that's one for another day and when he’s got ropes. So we make our way back past all the catfish and toilet paper back to the entrance. Was a bit out of my comfort zone with this place but afterwards it felt good for giving it a go. We wash our trainers in the upper reaches of the storm drain where the water is a bit cleaner and the Dr saves the day by pulling out some Detol wet-wipes. Funny how no one wanted to sit next to us on the MTR on the way back ;-)
3. The Pictures
All taken on my phone. Didn’t fancy messing around with my SLR and tripod. In the end they came out OK.
Right at the start where the water runs down to the storm drain:
Tinder drain 14 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And along the covered section:
Tinder drain 12 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Turn to the right:
Tinder drain 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Down, down down we go…
Tinder drain 10 by HughieDW, on Flickr
He’s the first of the many catfish:
Tinder drain 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Tinder drain 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Mmmm. This water isn’t looking so clean anymore;
Tinder drain 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Another run off that joins from the side:
Tinder drain 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Tinder drain 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And it gets a bit lower here:
Tinder drain 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The Dr heads off here:
Tinder drain 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And he’s gone.
Five minutes later and he’s back.
Tinder drain 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And we make our way back:
Tinder drain 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Happy Valley is an upper-income residential , located in the Wan Chai district. Sometimes known as Wong Nai Chung Kuk meaning “yellow mud stream”, it is home to the Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong Racing Museum and Hong Kong Sanatorium. In early 1840, the British Army set a military camp in the area although the camp was later closed due to the increasing number of soldiers succumbing to malaria. The death rate in the area and Victoria City was high in the early colonial days, and the valley became a burial ground for the dead. As a result, the valley was renamed as Happy Valley, a common euphemism for cemeteries. In 1846, the British felt that the valley terrain was ideal for horse-racing, and thus cleared the paddy fields and developed the Happy Valley Racecourse. Tragically on 26th February 1918, there was a fire in the racecourse that claimed at least 590 lives, caused by the collapse of a temporary grandstand, which knocked over food stalls and set bamboo matting ablaze. Death continued to be a theme synonymous with Happy valley in December 1941 when the Japanese Imperial Army entered the hill east of the valley and fought their way to Blue Pool Road where a number of large massacres occurred where civilians were bayoneted.
The low-lying Happy Valley area sees frequent flooding during heavy rains. The area particularly witnessed extreme flooding in April 2006, August 2006 and June 2008. Hence the Drainage Services Department (DSD) started the construction works for the Happy Valley Underground Storm-water Storage Scheme (HVUSSS) in September 2011. It involved the construction of an underground storm-water storage tank with a capacity of 60,000m³ beneath the Happy Valley Racecourse and sports facilities. The project involves the construction of the storm-water storage tank, an inlet structure, a twin cell box culvert and a movable crest overflow side weir system. Also included was the construction of a pump station with a capacity of 5,400m³ per hour.
The system was designed so that storm water during heavy rainfall enters the inlet structure it is channeled into the diversion culvert. Excess runoff from the culvert is then conveyed to the storage tank using a movable crest overflow side weir. Water from the storage tank is then be pumped and released back to the existing storm-water drainage system on ‘normal’ days.
2. The Explore
Second meet up with the good Dr Howser in HK over the summer. “How about a storm drain. The weather forecast is OK”. Me: “Erm, a storm drain in HK in the rainy season? Er, OK”. Can’t say I’d ever considered doing a storm drain in HK. But let’s give it a go. So off we set for Happy Valley on the MTR. Soon we are clambering over the railings and on into the entrance of the storm drain. We arouse the suspicion of a bloke on the street but he soon moves on. And in we go. A bit of balancing along a pipe and we're in and going deep below Happy Valley. Initially the water is clear but soon it becomes clear that a few properties above have rather naughtily tapped into this waterway and are using it as a covert sewerage outlet. Not ideal when you are in trainers. And as the water gets deeper the catfish appear. They are massive and start to splash as we move along the tunnel. It’s a bit disconcerting at first. Deeper and deeper we go. Then it gets quite a bit deeper and the tunnel wall is lined with cockroaches. That’s it for me. Tolerance zone reached. The Dr wants to push on and find the storage tank. So I wait as he disappears into the distance. I turn my torch off and with the Dr out of sight, it’s an unnerving feeling in the humid blackness. Within about 5 minutes the Dr is back. He’s got to the point where the storm drain meets the perimeter of the tank but there’s a steepish run-off and it’s really slippery so that's one for another day and when he’s got ropes. So we make our way back past all the catfish and toilet paper back to the entrance. Was a bit out of my comfort zone with this place but afterwards it felt good for giving it a go. We wash our trainers in the upper reaches of the storm drain where the water is a bit cleaner and the Dr saves the day by pulling out some Detol wet-wipes. Funny how no one wanted to sit next to us on the MTR on the way back ;-)
3. The Pictures
All taken on my phone. Didn’t fancy messing around with my SLR and tripod. In the end they came out OK.
Right at the start where the water runs down to the storm drain:
And along the covered section:
Turn to the right:
Down, down down we go…
He’s the first of the many catfish:
Mmmm. This water isn’t looking so clean anymore;
Another run off that joins from the side:
And it gets a bit lower here:
The Dr heads off here:
And he’s gone.
Five minutes later and he’s back.
And we make our way back:
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