9
visual illustration
9.1
Introduction
The height of the various proposed structures in the
Project will not exceed the existing maximum building height of +83 mPD and no
additional chimney will be erected in the Project. With reference to Section 3.4.7 of the Study
Brief, a visual illustration of the Project is therefore provided in this
section, instead of a detailed assessment of the landscape and visual impacts
according to the criteria and guidelines in Annexes
10 and 18 of the EIAO-TM.
The discussion in this section provides an
analysis of the following:
· the Site and its
surroundings;
· the visible
elements of the Project; and
· the potential
visibility of the new structures to be built as part of the Project.
9.2
The Existing Site and Its Surrounding
9.2.1
Description of the Site
The existing Site is located along the coast of
Figure
9.1 provides an aerial view of the existing Site and its surroundings. The Site is dominated by the existing
Castle Peak Power Station (CPPS) and is surrounded by the open waters of the
Figure 9.1 Aerial
View of the Site and Its Surroundings
9.2.2
Potential Impact on the Surrounding Landscape
It is considered that
the Project will have no impact on the surrounding landscape as all the works
will be completely contained within the boundary of the existing CPPS.
9.3
Visibility of the Project
9.3.1
Visible Elements of the Project
FGD and SCR Facilities
The majority of the
FGD and SCR facilities to be constructed will be concentrated in an area
(approximately 200 m x 300 m) immediately south-west of the four boiler houses
of CPB. The currently envisaged
layout of these facilities is shown in Figure
9.2. The locations of the
existing stack of CPB, the FGD absorbers and the SCR units are highlighted for
reference.
Figure 9.2 Proposed
Layout of the Key Elements of the Project including the FGD and SCR Units
The tallest
structures among the above-mentioned group of new facilities will be the SCR
units at approximately 65 m. The
second tallest structures will be the FGD absorbers with their highest point at
approximately 50 m. It is envisaged
that the structures of these new facilities will be dwarfed by the existing
boiler houses (approximately 78 m tall) and the stack (approximately 245 m
tall) and the visibility of these new elements will be low.
Figure 9.3 illustrates the scale of the FGD and SCR facilities in relation to the adjacent
existing structures. (Note: all dimensions are in millimetres).
9.3.1
Gypsum
Storage
The gypsum
storage area will be located adjacent to the West Coal Yard (please refer to Figure
2.1 for its location).
The proposed storage building will be a steel-frame structure covered
with metal claddings measuring approximately 70m long x 47m wide x 20m
high. This new element will be
visible but it will simply appear as another storage area within the existing
CPPS.
9.3.2
Additional
Berthing Facility
The additional
berthing facility for the loading and unloading of process reagents and
by-products will be a piled deck structure of a total length of 140 m at the
south-western corner of the existing CPPS (please refer to Figure 2.1 for its location). The structure of the berth
will be at the same level as the existing road and the new rail-mounted
limestone unloader and gypsum loader will be the only above-ground elements. It is therefore considered that the
additional berthing facility will have a low visibility from the surrounding
areas.
9.3.3
Rail-Mounted
Loader / Unloader
There will be a limestone loader /gypsum unloader located alongside the
additional berthing facility.
Technical drawings for this structure are not yet available however it
will be approximately 20 m tall, and will be installed at the level of the
existing deck. When not in use, the
structure will be rotated towards the berthing facility. Figure F2 shows a typical
loading/unloading structure and the structure will not create any adverse
visual impacts.
9.3.4
Proposed Colour Scheme
It is currently envisaged that the new structures associated with the Project,
including those of the additional conveyor systems, will
mainly be metal structures painted in a colour scheme that complements the
surrounding industrial setting of the existing CPPS.
These colours will
include shades of off-white, grey and light blues as can be seen used on the
existing power station.
9.4
Potential Viewpoints
The potential visibility was determined by a site visit. From the observations during the site
visit, the new structures should only be visible from the open waters to the
south and west of the Site. The new
structures within CPB will most likely be screened by the existing structures
of the Castle Peak Power Station “A” Units (CPA) when viewed from the north. The visibility of the new structures
would therefore potentially affect passengers on the marine vessels passing the
Two viewpoints (VPs)
from the open waters of the
Figure 9.4 Selected
Viewpoints towards the Site
Annex F contains
photomontages that have been prepared from each of the two viewpoints to
illustrate the visibility of the new facilities.
Figure F1 shows the view towards the Site from VP1. From this viewpoint, the FGD absorbers
and the SCR units will be visible.
However, as the height of these elements will not exceed the existing
boiler houses, they are considered to have low visibility. The gypsum storage building is also
expected to be visible but it will complement the existing industrial building
structures of the CPPS.
Figure F2 shows the locations of the FGD and SCR facilities,
the gypsum storage building and the additional berthing facility from VP2. From this VP, all three groups of
facilities will be visible.
However, as with VP1, they are expected to be dwarfed by the existing
buildings and therefore are considered to have low visibility.
9.5
Summary and Conclusions
The proposed
structures associated with the Project will not have any negative impact on the
surrounding landscape and will have a very low visibility for the following
reasons:
·
the proposed structures are
located within a large existing industrial facility;
·
there will be no impacts on
the surrounding landscape area as all structures are contained within the
existing industrial site; and
·
the new structures are
expected to be finished to complement the existing industrial surroundings;
It is considered that
the Project will have a low visibility and therefore should not pose any
concerns visually.