Public Works Bureau (DSOP), Transport Bureau (DSAT), Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA), and Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) officials revealed yesterday that Macau has nearly 40,000 manhole covers on drivable road surfaces, alongside roughly 48,000 drainage manhole covers. Aiming to improve driving comfort and enhance street aesthetics, the government’s road work coordination group projects a total reduction of over 100 manhole covers across completed, ongoing, and planned road projects.
The officials confirmed the figure during a meeting with members of the government-appointed Central District Community Service Consultative Council at the Patane Municipal Market Complex (沙梨頭街市市政綜合大樓).
Briefing reporters after yesterday’s closed-door meeting, Pui Seng In, a deputy convenor of the government-appointed council, noted that roadway manhole covers serve six major utility networks, including electricity, gas, and telecommunications, while drainage manhole covers target stormwater, sewage, and recycled water.
According to the coordination group, eight designated engineering projects are expected to eliminate more than 100 manhole covers in total. Manhole reduction initiatives carried out alongside pipe-laying projects on Avenida Wai Long (偉龍馬路), Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge (known as the “Old Bridge”), and Rua da Palmeira (麻子街) have already successfully removed over 10 manhole covers, fellow council member Leong Chon Kit noted.
Leong did not say when the removel of the over 100 manhole covers is slated to be completed.
Furthermore, Leong pointed out that the Northeast Avenida Leste do Hipódromo Elevated Walkway project is projected to remove 94 roadway manhole covers.
Meanwhile, utility conduits in Zone A of the New Urban Area have already been pre-reserved, which will significantly reduce the need for future road excavations in subsequent construction projects, Leong added.
All new road construction projects continue to optimise early-stage planning and coordination with utility operators. Optimisation measures—such as combining, relocating, concealing, and removing obsolete manhole covers—will be integrated directly into project designs, ensuring a steady, long-term reduction of roadway manhole covers across the territory, Leong said.
In Macau’s old quarters, high building density and limited street frontage combined with early infrastructure limitations have created a highly complex network of subterranean utilities, Pui said, adding that the continuous addition of utility connections for new developments has further driven up the number of manhole covers over time.
Central District Community Service Consultative Council Deputy Convenor Pui Seng In (left) and Councillor Leong Chon Kit pose during yesterday’s press briefing after the government-appointed council’s closed-door meeting at the Patane Municipal Market Complex (沙梨頭街市市政綜合大樓). – Photos: Ida Cheong
This photo taken in June shows several drainage manhole covers along Travessa da Ribeira.
