Dyke and Inner Harbor Construction
​防洪堤和內港建設

Dyke construction 堤壩建設

In the second half of the 19th century. Macao began reclamation, the purpose was not only to increase the land area but also to expand the port, ultimately to resist flooding caused by climate change. The Macao government invited hydrological experts from Portugal to deal with the related issues. After surveying, the experts believed that Macao needed to build seawalls and reclamation to straighten the coast, so that the water flow would accelerate, and the silt would not accumulate. However, since the sea area was owned by the Chinese Qing government at that time, the Portuguese did not have the right to govern the sea area of Macao, so the above plan could not be implemented.  Macao built its first seawall in 1892 to connect Ilha Verde and the Macao peninsula. In 1923, the Portuguese Macao government began to build the Ilha Verde seawall project, which gradually connected with the Macao Peninsula and became Ilha Verde nowadays.

19世紀下半葉，澳門開始填海。其目的不僅是為了增加土地面積，還是為了拓寬港口面積。從而抵御氣候變化造成的洪水。澳門政府邀請葡萄牙的水文專家來處理相關問題。經過勘察，專家們認為澳門需要修建海堤和填海，以拉直海岸，使水流加速，且淤泥不易堆積。但是，由於當時的海域屬於中國清政府所有，葡萄牙人無權管轄澳門的海域，所以上述計劃無法實施。澳門於1892年建造了第一條海堤，以連接青洲和澳門半島。1923年，澳門葡人政府開始興建青洲海堤工程，逐漸與澳門半島相連，成為今天的青洲。澳門最早的海堤採用了傳統的防洪方法，即建造高架海堤。這些海堤是用沙子、巨石、鬆散的石頭、木頭等建成的。海水可以通過海堤進入岩土層，在設計和施工上存在很多問題，而且防水土流失的過濾能力和抵御海水侵蝕能力較弱。沿河修建海堤雖然可以抵御洪水侵襲，但在景觀視廊和人類活動方面阻礙了居民與水岸的互動，而且極易造成內澇隱患。

 

The earliest seawalls in Macao used the traditional flood control method of building raised seawalls. The seawalls were built with sand, boulders, loose stones, wood, etc. Seawater can enter the rock and soil layer through the seawall, and there are many problems in design and construction since the filtering ability of waterproof soil loss and resist seawater erosion ability is weak. Although constructing a seawall along the river can resist flood encroachment, it hinders more interaction between residents and the waterfront area in terms of landscape sight and crowd activities, and it is easy to cause hidden dangers of waterlogging.

澳門最早的海堤採用了傳統的防洪方法，即建造高架海堤。海堤是用沙子、巨石、鬆散的石頭、木頭等建造的。海水可以通過海堤進入岩土層，由於防水土流失的過濾能力和抵御海水侵蝕的能力較弱，在設計和施工上存在很多問題。沿河修建海堤雖然可以抵御洪水侵襲，但在景觀視線和人群活動方面阻礙了居民與濱水區的更多互動，容易造成內澇的隱患。

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Inner Harbor 內港

Macao Inner Harbour refers to the natural harbor in the western part of Macao, formerly known as Praia Pequena. This port starts from A-Ma Temple at the south end of Macao and extends to Ilha Verde at the northwest end.

澳門內港--指的是澳門西部的天然港灣，原名為北灣。這個港口從澳門南端的媽祖廟開始，一直延伸到西北端的青洲"。

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Four hundred years ago, Portuguese were allowed to settle in Macao after years of wandering on the Chinese coast. However, from a fishing village to a commercial port, Portuguese had to think carefully when constructing the city. Although Macao is surrounded by sea on three sides, there are not many harbours that can be used as ports, and due to geographical factors, they finally chose to establish their first port in “Praia Pequena”. Portuguese chose the smaller Praia Pequena as a commercial port. Although Praia Grande was suitable for berthing ships, and the area was more spacious, fishing ships and merchant ships would also berth in Praia Pequena. However, as we all know, Macao is hit by typhoons every year, and typhoons come from the east or the south. Hence, if ships are moored in Praia Grande, they will definitely hit the shore and cause serious damage. On the contrary, Praia Pequena is protected by the hilly terrain of Macao and its hills, which reduces the damage caused by typhoons, and because of its proximity to villages and the availability of freshwater from the Rua do Tarrafeiro River. Therefore, Portuguese chose Praia Pequena as the center for the establishment of their city and port.

四百年前，葡萄牙人在中國沿海漂泊多年後，獲准在澳門定居。然而，從一個漁村到一個商業港口，葡萄牙人在建設這個地區時不得不仔細考慮。雖然澳門三面環海，但可作為港口的港灣不多。由於地理因素，他們最終選擇在 "北灣"建立第一個港口。葡萄牙人選擇了較小的北灣作為商業港口。雖然南灣適合停泊船隻，而且面積也比較寬敞，但漁船和商船也會在這裡停泊。但是，眾所周知，澳門每年都會受到颱風的襲擊，而颱風來自東部或南部，所以如果船隻停泊在南灣，肯定會撞到岸邊，造成嚴重的損失。相反，北灣由於受到澳門丘陵地形的保護，減少了風災造成的損失，又因為它靠近村莊，而且有沙欄仔河的淡水。因此，葡萄牙人選擇北灣作為他們建立城市和港口的核心。

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Since its inception, Praia Pequena has been an important trading port for Macao. However, due to a large amount of silt washed in by the Xijiang River, the shore of the inner harbor is constantly extending outward while lowering the depth of the harbor, which greatly affects the operation of the harbour. Furthermore, the opening of Hong Kong caused Macao's status as a commercial port to fall into depression. To rescue the dying economy, the Macao Portuguese government began to fill in the Praia Pequena in 1868, which creating a straight line from the A-Ma Temple to Rua do Tarrafeiro in Praia Pequena, forming the “Inner Habour” as it appears today.

自成立以來，北灣一直是澳門的一個重要貿易港口。然而，由於西江河衝刷了大量的淤泥，內港的岸邊不斷向外延伸，同時降低了港口的深度，這極大地影響了港口的運作。雪上加霜的是，香港的開放使澳門作為商業港口的地位日漸衰落，經濟陷入蕭條。為了輓救瀕臨崩潰的經濟，1868年，澳門葡萄牙政府開始填平小港灣，從媽祖廟到沙欄仔街形成一條直線，形成今天的 內港。

 

Link between Dyke and Inner Harbor Construction 堤壩和內港之間的聯繫建設

 

Since the opening of the port, Praia Pequena has been an important trading port for Macao. However, due to a large amount of silt washed in by the Xijiang River, the shore of the inner harbour keeps extending outward while lowering the depth of the harbour, which greatly affects the operation of the port.

自開埠以來，內港一直是澳門的一個重要貿易港。然而，由於西江河衝刷進來的大量淤泥，內港的岸邊不斷向外延伸，同時降低了港口的深度，這大大影響了港口的運作。

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Macao's water depth is heavily influenced by the Pearl River estuary. After the Pearl River merges with the East, West, and North Rivers and some small tributaries, it enters the Pearl River Delta and then diverges into the sea, with eight main outlets. The Lingdingyang estuary and the Lo-chou Men, which are located at the end of the river, are on the east and west sides of Macao, and the outflow of the river and the sediment they carry have a great impact on Macao waters. The sand content of the Pearl River is relatively small, averaging about 0.3 kg/m3, which is smaller than that of the Yellow River (32.2 kg/m3) and the Yangtze River (1.1 kg/m3), but due to the abundant rainfall and high flow of rain in the Pearl River basin, a large amount of sediment is still transported downstream every year.  According to statistics, the average amount of suspended sediment imported into the estuary of the Pearl River reaches 83.36 million tons per year, with more than 151.64 million tons in a high-water year.

澳門的水深受珠江河口的影響很大。珠江與東江、西江、北江和一些小支流匯合後，進入珠江三角洲，然後分流入海，有八個主要出口。位於河道末端的伶仃洋河口和磨刀門水道位於澳門的東西兩側，河水的流出和攜帶的泥沙對澳門水域有很大影響。雖然珠江的含沙量相對較小，平均約為0.3公斤/立方米，小於黃河（32.2公斤/立方米）和長江（1.1公斤/立方米），但由於珠江流域雨量充沛，流量大，每年仍有大量的泥沙被運往下游。據統計，每年輸入珠江河口的懸浮泥沙平均達到8336萬噸，高水位年份時的泥沙超過15164萬噸。

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Of the 83.36 million tons of sediment that reach the Pearl River Delta, only 20% is deposited in the delta, while the remaining 80% is exported to the near-shore waters through various portals.  According to the calculation, 50% of the sediment (66.69 million tons) goes through the Lingdingyang estuary, 40% through the Lo-chou Men, and 10% through the Yamen. On average, about 60 million tons of sediment are transported out of the sea through the Lingdingyang estuary (33 million tons) and the Maojimen (27 million tons) yearly. This sediment is deposited outside the mouths of the river, creating large shallow beaches.

在到達珠江三角洲的83.36萬噸泥沙中，只有20%沈積在三角洲，其餘80%則通過各個港口出口到近岸海域。根據計算，50%的泥沙（6669萬噸）通過伶仃洋河口，40%通過磨刀門水道，10%通過崖門水道。平均而言，每年約有6000萬噸泥沙通過伶仃洋河口（3300萬噸）和雞啼門水道（2700萬噸）被運出海。這些泥沙沈積在河流入海口，形成了大型淺灘。

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Therefore, considering a large number of rainstorms and typhoons that affect Macao every year, the government conducted a specific study in 2012 on measures to remedy the flooding in the inner harbour and subsequently launched a temporary flood prevention project in the inner harbour by installing watertight dry gates and retaining walls at piers and embankments to strengthen the flood prevention function of the shoreline by applying blockage at the seams.

   因此，考慮到每年有大量暴雨和颱風影響澳門，政府在2012年開始持續對內港的水災補救措施進行了專門研究，隨後在內港啓動了臨時防洪工程，在碼頭和堤岸安裝水密乾閘和擋土牆，通過在縫隙處施加阻擋，加強海岸線的防洪功能。