The Civil Engineering Library

The Civil Engineering Library

The Civil Engineering Library (CEL) is the central reference library of the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD). The CEL was established to provide library services to CEDD staff. It is also open to staff from other government departments as well as non-government users, including members of the public.

The CEL contains over 200,000 items, including periodicals, books, conference proceedings, manuals, standards, codes of practice, geotechnical reports, maps, documents submitted to the GEO in support of private developments, and documents produced by or for government departments. The collection has particular emphasis on civil and geotechnical engineering as well as new town development subjects.

The Geotechnical Information Unit (GIU) forms part of the CEL and houses a comprehensive collection of geotechnical data from ground investigations throughout of Hong Kong. The following GIU materials are among those available for inspection by non-government users:

  1. ground investigation reports, including geophysical surveys and some groundwater monitoring data;
  2. reports on the laboratory testing of soil and rock and some reports chemical and biological testing for soils;
  3. landslip record cards;
  4. an inventory of boulder fields;
  5. an inventory of landslides on natural terrain;
  6. location plans for government slopes and hillside catchments which have been upgraded and mitigated or which are included in current works contracts under the Landslip Prevention and Mitigation Programme (LPMitP); and
  7. AGS data of some ground investigation reports and soil and rock laboratory testing reports.

Retrieval of ground investigation and laboratory testing reports are supported by the "Geotechnical Information Infrastructure System" (GInfo). This system has a GIS engine to support spatial and textual searches to help users locate the needed information efficiently. A user's manual for the GInfo is provided in the CEL.

Members of the public are not permitted to borrow material from the CEL. Nevertheless, reading facilities, together with pay photocopying and printing services are provided.

For any enquiry, please contact the Assistant Librarian at (852) 2762 5147 or the library staff at (852) 2762 5148.

Service hours

  Government Staff Non-government Users
Monday to Friday 09:00 - 12:30
13:30 - 17:15
09:00 - 12:30
14:00 - 17:00

(closed on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays)

Address :
LG1, Civil Engineering and Development Building, 101 Princess Margaret Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong