香港耗资38亿美元的雨水隧道网络

The city's complex drainage system protects Hong Kong from once-disastrous flooding caused by seasonal typhoons. But will it be strong enough to withstand the effects of climate crisis?

香港复杂的排水系统，使香港免遭季节性台风造成的灾难性洪灾。但它是否强大到足以承受气候危机的影响呢?

Below the mountains that overlook Hong Kong's financial district, drainage engineer Alex Lau is ankle-deep in water flowing into a giant tunnel almost twice the height of a double-decker bus.

在俯瞰香港金融区的山脚下，排水工程师亚历克斯·刘正置身于齐脚踝深的水里，水流入一条巨大的隧道，其高度几乎是一辆双层巴士的两倍。

Part of a ground-breaking, $3.8 billion (30 billion Hong Kong dollar) drainage network, this tunnel runs nearly the length of Hong Kong Island and has saved the city from floods that decades ago routinely cost lives and caused widespread destruction.

这条隧道是耗资38亿美元(合300亿港元)的破土动工的排水网络的一部分，它几乎覆盖了整个香港岛，使这座城市免遭洪水的侵袭。几十年前，洪水经常造成人员伤亡，并造成大范围的破坏。

"This tunnel intercepts about one third of the rainfall for the northern Hong Kong area," Lau says, as he looks west to the point where the tunnel fades to black. "We have about 34 intakes and all the intercepted water will be diverted into the tunnel and carried all the way to the sea."

“这条隧道截留了香港北部地区约三分之一的雨量，”刘先生说，他向西看隧道逐渐变黑的地方。“我们有大约34个进水口，所有被拦截的水将被分流到隧道里，一直带到海里。”

Dug with two vast tunnel-boring machines over five years, beginning in 2007, the 10.5-kilometer-long (6.5 mile) tunnel, about half the length of Manhattan, has solved a basic but pressing problem facing one of Asia's wettest cities: rain. Hong Kong receives about 2,400 millimeters it per year, according to the Drainage Services Department (DSD).

这条长10.5公里(6.5英里)、约为曼哈顿长度的一半、从2007年开始用两台大型隧道掘进机历时五年时间挖掘的隧道，已经解决了亚洲最潮湿城市之一面临的一个基本但紧迫的问题:降雨。根据渠务署的数据，香港每年接收约2,400毫米的污水。

But building this network in one of the world's densest cities wasn't easy.

但是在世界上人口最稠密的城市之一建设这个网络并不容易。

Hong Kong Island was already criss-crossed by tunnels, carrying the city's subway system and accommodating roads that slice through the mountainous landscape.

香港岛已经有纵横交错的隧道，承载着城市的地铁系统，并容纳了穿过山区景观的道路。

Consequently, the Hong Kong West Drainage Tunnel runs through the hills behind the city, tucked less than a dozen meters below the surface -- though few of the city's residents, whose lives it protects each rainy season, ever realize it is there.

因此，香港西部排水隧道穿过城市背后的山丘，隐藏在地表以下不到十几米的地方——尽管很少有香港居民意识到它的存在，它在每个雨季都保护着他们的生命。