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Homantin tree collapsed|Government studies improvement of tree risk assessment procedures

2022-09-19T04:31:41.654Z


A phoenix tree next to a road in Prafu Street, Ho Man Tin suddenly collapsed last Friday (16th), hitting a school bus and three private cars. Some people believe that the roots of the tree are suspected of being rotted by fungi. Development Bureau Greening and Landscape


A phoenix tree next to a road in Prafu Street, Ho Man Tin suddenly collapsed last Friday (16th), hitting a school bus and three private cars. Some people believe that the roots of the tree are suspected of being rotted by fungi.

Ng Chi-kwan, director of the Greening, Landscape and Tree Management Section of the Development Bureau, said on the RTHK program this morning (19th) that the initial assessment was similar, and a task force set up by the authorities would review the incident and study how to improve overall tree detection and risk. evaluation procedure.

In addition, the authorities said earlier that they will review the phoenix trees along the roads in Hong Kong within this month. Wu pointed out that the inspection will be carried out by visual inspection first, and if there is any abnormality, the equipment will be used for in-depth inspection.


Su Guoxian, director of the Changchun Society, said that visual inspection can initially identify obvious problems. However, in this incident, there were no obvious signs of decay on the surface of the tree roots, and the crown of the tree was normal. It was difficult to agree to the risk assessment. No problem noticed.


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Wu Zhiyun said on the Hong Kong TV program "Millennium Times" that the Baku Street where the incident occurred has a history of decades of development, and the development of the street and buildings is different from the current one, but the authorities have issued new guidelines more than 10 years ago, requiring similar trees to grow regardless of their growth. The location must have enough space to grow.

She said that the task force set up by the authorities will examine whether the big trees in the old areas can still grow in line with the environment, and will also study how to improve the overall tree detection and risk assessment procedures.

Task force inspects the growth environment of big trees in old districts

As for the cause of the accident, Wu said that the preliminary assessment was similar to that in the market. The roots of the trees involved were suspected to have been eroded by fungi, causing the trees to collapse due to insufficient support.

However, she also pointed out that further tests and in-depth investigations are needed.

In addition, the department in charge of tree management will review the phoenix trees along the roads in Hong Kong within this month.

Wu Zhiyun said that visual inspection will be used first, and if any abnormality is found, the instrument will be used for in-depth inspection, but during the period, it may be necessary to drill into the tree, which may cause damage, so a balance must be made.

Su Guoxian (file photo/Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Su Guoxian said on the same program that because his children were attending classes nearby, he paid attention to the Phoenix tree involved and agreed that there was no obvious signs of decay on the surface of the tree roots, and the crown was normal, so it was difficult to assess the risk.

Regarding the reliability of visual inspections, he emphasized that visual inspections are used all over the world, and obvious problems can be found initially, and then follow-up inspections are carried out.

He continued to point out that since the root of the tree in question was buried in the ground, it was necessary to have suitable equipment for inspection.

Screening trees planted on streets with many people and vehicles

However, he also pointed out that since there used to be another phoenix tree in Baku Street, which also collapsed due to root problems, the accident is not without a trace. , you can use methods other than visual inspection in-depth inspection.

Fallen tree in Ho Man Tin | Ning Han Hao: Investigation report on phoenix wood materials passing by the roadside in Hong Kong will be released next month The cause of the collapse suggests the government to check the roadside tree

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-09-19

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