The T.A.C. has also examined a suggestion that vacant building sites adjacent to main roads be used as temporary car parks. It considers that, while the con- version of vacant Crown Land sites into temporary car parks may not present too many difficulties, the lease conditions of each privately owned vacant building site would have to be carefully examined before the owner was approached and encouraged to make use of it as a temporary car park.
LAOS DAM TENDERS
A WORLDWIDE call for tenders for construction of a US$24 million dam at Nam Ngum, north of Vientiane, in Laos, is expected to be issued within six months by the Mekong Committee, Dr Boonrod Binson, the committee's secretary, said recently.
The World Bank has agreed to finance the project and a Canadian company has been signed to act as con- sulting engineers. The dam will be the largest single
construction in Laos.
Thailand, it is estimated, would provide 800,000 units of electricity a month and US$1 million worth of cement during construction, Dr Boonrod said. It would take four years to build the dam and at peak construction some 4,000 workers would be employed.
CHECK ON ILLEGAL BUILDING
CONTROL and Enforcement Section is the title given to a new unit set up by the Buildings Ordinance Office of the Hong Kong Public Works Department to investigate the extent of illegal alterations which endanger the life and health of occupants in buildings.
Mr. E. H. Rowley, Acting Government Building Sur- veyor, said last month that it was becoming all too fre- quent for illegal work to be carried out in buildings after they had been inspected for occupation. These altera- tions often created grave fire hazards and at the very least reduced the standard of light and air below the minimum laid down by the Buildings Ordinance.
Ultimately it is hoped that the unit will be able to inspect all newly occupied private buildings for the pre- sence of illegal work and take action where contravention of the Ordinance is discovered.
STAFF QUARTERS CONTRACT
SANDAKAN Town Board has accepted the tender of Keung Sing Construction Co., at M$161,000 for building a two- storey block of Government staff quarters at Mile 11⁄2 North Road. The estimated time for completion is 180 days.
Six other tenders were received: Standard Construc- tion Co., $158,000 (260 days); Lee Tai Construction Co., $176,000 (210 days); Yew Hsing Construction Co., $182,- 800 (280 days); Metropolitan Construction Co., $183,469 (270 days); Tai Hing Construction Co., $189,000 (270 days); and Hsiang Song Contractors, $208,000 (320 days). The architect is Mr. Peter Kwan.
RESETTLEMENT PROGRESS
THE annual report (1965-66) of the Commissioner for Re- settlement, Hong Kong, shows that the record building achievements of the previous year have not been main- tained.
This, it explains, was partly due to the transition from eight to 16-storey blocks which naturally took longer to build. The banking crisis early in 1965 left some con- tractors short of liquid capital, which delayed the com- pletion of some blocks under construction, and there were difficulties in the forming of some hilly sites.
Despite these handicaps, 21 eight-storey and 13 16- storey blocks were taken over from the Public Works Department during the year, bringing the number man- aged by the department to 388 in 18 estates. In addition, six new factory blocks, each of seven-storeys, were taken over, providing an additional 592,128 sq. ft. of nett work-
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ing space for small squatter industrial undertakings in units of 256 sq. ft.
Allowing for deaths and people moving out of estates, amounting only to a little under one per cent, of the total estate population, the year showed a nett increase of nearly 90,000 people in estates. In round figures, 20,- 000 new residents came from dangerous buildings by way of the Rent Advance Scheme: another 52,000 were re- settled from areas required for development; nearly 23,000 were additions of relatives and new born children to fami- lies already in the estates: and 2,000 were resettled on compassionate grounds.
TAIWAN CONSTRUCTION BOOM
CONSTRUCTION was Taiwan's most active industry in the first half of 1966, according to a survey by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The Ministry reports that Taiwan built 1,378,000 square metres of apartment and office space, compared with 554,000 square metres in the first six months of 1965. The increase is attributed to the booming economy. Substantial gains were also recorded by the cement and plywood industries.
CABLE CAR PLAN
THE Philippines' first cable car system, at the Tagaytay ridge and Taal lake area south of Manila, will soon be constructed, the Philippine Tourist and Travel Association announced recently.
To be undertaken by the Tagaytay City Government with financing from the Philippine National Bank, the system will be constructed by a private group supervised by Japan's Mitsui and Co.
Tagaytay ridge, 2,500 ft. above sea level, commands a breath-taking view of Taal lake and Taal volcano. When completed, the cable car will take visitors from the top of the ridge to the lake shore below and across the water to the volcano's crater.
ELEVATED ROAD TENDERS
TENDERS Will be called for this month for the construc- tion of a further stage of the Garden Road Complex, Hong Kong.
This entails a section of Kapok Drive from the New Government Office Building to the Helena May Institute. It involves the construction of an elevated road with a 34 ft. wide carriageway about 400 ft. long, together with the formation of associated embankments and a slip road to the adjoining Garden Road.
BOOKLET ON Q. E. HOSPITAL
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A NEW booklet has been produced on Hong Kong's Queen Elizabeth Hospital one of the largest and best equipped general hospitals in S.E. Asia.
Produced by the Government Information Services for the Public Works Department, the booklet is in colour with pictures showing both exterior and interior views of the modern hospital. A supplementary booklet is avail- able containing technical details as well as structural plans of the HK$70 million hospital for the information of ar- chitects and engineers.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS' COMMITTEE
MR. S. J. S. Webber has been elected chairman of the Institution of Structural Engineers (Hong Kong Section). The new committee includes: Mr. S. C. Kung, vice chair- man: Mr. Ping K. Ng, hon. secretary and hon. treasurer: Mr. K. T. Philcox, Mr. S. N. Lee and Mr. S. L. Au.
NEW WORKS DEPT. HEAD
MR. Kanjana Hengsuvanij, special grade engineer, has been appointed the new Director-General of the Public and Municipal Works Department. Bangkok. He replaces Mr. Luang Yuktasevi Vivadhana, who has retired.
Far East Architect & Builder November, 1966