VEERBE
Model of the proposed housing scheme for local Government officers at Lung Cheung Road, Kowloon
This scheme forms part of a revised approach by the Hong Kong Government to the housing of local pensionable staff. Apart from this scheme, the Finance Committee has already approved funds for a further scheme on a site at Ngok Yue Shan at Kwun Tong, for which tenders will be invited later in the year.
Flats in these schemes will be leased under mortgage to individual selected officers with monthly salaries be- tween HK$690 and $3,010.
It is expected that piling works in connection with the first phase of the new housing scheme at Lung Cheung Road will start in July this year and the flats will be progressively completed by late 1968.
PLOVER COVE AERIAL SURVEY
PHOTOGRAMMETRISTS of Hunting Surveys Ltd., UK, took aerial photographs last month of the whole of the Plover Cove reservoir. Signals at various points in the reservoir had been previously surveyed and by using these as datum points the levels at hundreds of other points on the photo- graphs may be measured.
The data is fed to a computer which then calculates in a few minutes the number of gallons contained in the reservoir for each inch of water level.
Excess water from Plover Cove reservoir will flow across this 800 ft. long concrete outlet at the rate of 40,000 cu. ft. per second. The spillway measures 350 ft. across at its widest point and narrows down to about 100 ft. in the middle. Construction of the spillway involved the carving away of the mid-section of Tung Tau Chau island which forms part of the reservoirs's east- ern wall. Some 250,000 tons of earth excavated in the construc- tion of the spillway was used for building one of the reservoir's subsidiary dams.
Far East Architect & Builder June, 1967
The Hong Kong Crown Lands and Survey Office has arranged to borrow an aerial survey camera from Hunt- ing Surveys for a trial period of one year. This will be used for the revision of maps and plans, to record the progress of civil engineering works such as reclamations and to count squatter huts.
It is also hoped that aerial survey can be used to measure at regular intervals the quantities of earth moved on large site-formation contracts such as those for resettle- ment and low-cost housing projects. This would save much time spent on laborious ground surveys.
CEMENT INCREASE ROW
An increase in the price of cement in Malaysia, which came into effect on May 1, would ruin many contractors, stated Mr. Lim Cheng Hin, president of the Master Build- ers' Association, in a letter last month to the Minister of Commerce and Industry. The increase, from M$2.40 to $3.40 a bag, has been applied by two Malaysian_pro- ducers, Associated Pan Malaysia Cement and Tasek Cement.
Mr. Lim said: “We do not object to any reasonable increase provided sufficient notice and time are given to enable us to make suitable arrangements with the manu- facturers for our cement requirements to fulfil existing contracts. The increase in price will be detrimental to the Government, public bodies, and public and private de- velopers as the cost of their projects will increase."
In reply the cement companies said that in 1965 the price was as high as M$75 a ton but as the result of a price war it dropped to $48 a ton. Despite this big drop the building costs remained the same.
Mr. Yeoh Kean Hin, executive director of Tasek Cement, said: "We consider the present price a fair one. At the previous price, cement producers were losing money. In fact our company had not paid a dividend for the last three or four years."
CEMENT PLANT CONTRACT
GEORGE Wimpey and Co., Ltd., UK. now completing the construction of the first stage of the Ap Lei Chau power station at Aberdeen, Hong Kong, have been awarded a contract by the Green Island Cement Co., Ltd. to build cement bagging and ready-mix concrete complex at Kennedy Town, Hong Kong.
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The contract provides for the construction of a jetty with handling equipment and a 14-storey building to which raw materials will be brought before being blend- ed, bagged and stored ready for distribution.
Architects for the project are Palmer and Turner; mechanical and electrical consultants, J. Roger Preston and Partners; and quantity surveyors, Langdon and Every.
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