1 Monitoring Requirement

1.1 As required under the Environmental Permits (EP) and the approved EM&A Manuals for the Project, monitoring of bridge lighting scheme and bird collision during operational phase have to be conducted monthly for 3 years.

1.2 The EM&A Manuals require the monitoring of the operation of the bridge lighting schemes and their relationship with bird mortality. Monitoring effort should be concentrated in autumn migration, winter, and spring migration seasons. Various combinations of illumination scheme, weather condition, season of year, and time of day should be monitored. Monthly surveys are recommended.

1.3 This is the seventh quarterly report prepared as required by EPs and documents the monitoring methodology and results, including types and schemes of illumination used on the bridge, weather conditions and records of bird mortalities. This report also provides an outline of the monitoring programme in the next quarter.

2 Monitoring equipment

2.1 A camera and a pair of binoculars were required during the monitoring process.

3 Monitoring location

3.1 The monitoring of bird collision took place along the HK-SWC alignment, which is approximately 5.5 km long and 40 m wide. The bridge alignment for the monitoring is given in Figure 3.1.

4 Monitoring methodology

4.1 Surveys were conducted to assess potential impacts of different lighting schemes on bird mortality as caused by collision with the bridge and associated structures. In order to monitor the bird mortality, surveys were carried out along the HK-SWC at both sides of the carriageway covering both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen sections. Attention was paid to the road surface while attempts were made to spot dead birds. Sea surface was also scanned for any floating dead birds. The monitoring lasted for about 30 – 40 minutes. The monitoring frequency is once every month.

4.2 The four lighting schemes are listed as follows:

Ÿ Scheme 1 – Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 19.30-22.00. Architectural lighting for the tower.

Ÿ Scheme 2 – Friday, Saturday and general festival, 19.30-22.00. Architectural lighting for the tower and side faces of the deck.

Ÿ Scheme 3 – Special festival and events, 19.30-22.00 Architectural lighting for the tower, stay cables and the side faces of the deck.

Ÿ Scheme 4 – During inclement weather. Turn off the architectural lighting.

5 Monitoring Results

5.1 The following Table 5.1 summarizes the results, including the types and schemes of illumination used on the bridge, the weather conditions and records of bird mortalities by species, number, location and estimated cause of death.

Table 5.1 Summary of Monitoring Results from January 2009 to March 2009

Date	Time	Lighting Scheme	Weather Condition	Records of Bird Mortality				Remarks
Date	Time	Lighting Scheme	Weather Condition	Species	No.	Location	Estimated Cause of Death	Remarks
30 Jan 09 (Mon)	7.45pm	Scheme 3	22.3-25.7^oC, 65-87% humidity.	-	0	-	-	Scheme 3 was on from 25 January 2009 to 1 February 2009 for Lunar New Year Eve and Lunar New Year. No record of dead bird.
11 Feb 09 (Wed)	7.30pm	Scheme 1	15.3-23.2^oC, 50-88% humidity.	-	0	-	-	No record of dead bird.
13 Mar 09 (Fri)	7.35pm	Scheme 2	14.4-24.8^oC, 60-96 % humidity.	-	0	-	-	No record of dead bird

6 Outline of monitoring programme for the next quarter

6.1 During the next quarter, from April to June 2009, bridge lighting scheme and bird collision monitoring surveys will be carried out monthly. Our aim is to allocate the same amount of opportunities for the monitoring of each of the four lighting schemes. It is important to note that Scheme 3 (used during special festivals and events), and Scheme 4 (used during inclement weather) are rarely used, thus opportunities for the monitoring of these schemes are less. Effort will be made to monitor combination of various lighting schemes, weather conditions, time of day (7.30pm - midnight) and seasons. A tentative monitoring programme is given in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1 Tentative Monitoring Programme from April 2009 to June 2009

Monitoring Month	Tentative Date	Target Scheme
April 2009	24 April 2009 (Fri)	Scheme 2
May 2009	7 May 2009 (Thur)	Scheme 3 (on from 1 May – 7 May 2009 for Labour Day)
June 2009	17 June 2009 (Wed)	Scheme 1

7 conclusion

7.1 No dead bird was spotted on the HK-SWC nor floating on sea surface. No bird mortality was recorded during the operation of HK-SWC during the monitoring surveys from January to March 2009.