Although the amount is comparatively small, it would assist in making land available early for the first stage of the proposed Container Terminal if dumping starts soon. As with material from Government development schemes and public dumping, the use of incinerator ash for reclaiming the terminal area would depend on demand for and priorities allocated to other reclamation areas at Kwai Chung.
Borrow Areas on the Mainland
11.6
11.7
11.8
11.9
As noted in the preceding Sections, the total amount of filling material from Government development schemes, public dumping and incinerators available for reclaiming the Terminal area is unknown. This is because not only is its volume uncertain but also other commitments do exist and may arise for which it is required. If the decision to construct the Container Terminal is delayed for any length of time or if demand for other land in the reclamation area arises, only a small amount or none of this material would be available for the Terminal reclamation. Because of this and because of the large volume of material required, it is considered advisable to ensure that other borrow areas are available to meet the full demand for both the Container Terminal and the proposed desalination plant. Two borrow areas in the vicinity have accordingly been reserved on the Mainland, one on the Lai Chi Kok ridge and one on the Texaco peninsula. These are shown on Drawing 5.
Most of the Lai Chi Kok borrow area is zoned as "Green Belt" and there are also sites in the area planned for two service reservoirs. In making use of this area as a borrow area, it is proposed that, where necessary, platforms should be formed at levels to suit these reservoirs. Other platforms are proposed for the north end of the area where site- investigation results indicate that a large proportion of soft material would be available. Should the reservoirs have to be constructed before the area is needed as a source of filling material, the site formation required, being only small, would not reduce to any extent the usefulness of the area as a borrow-area reserve. There would be no clearance problems in this area.
The "Green Belt" zoning is required as a break between the urban areas of north Kowloon and Tsuen Wan, but use of any platforms formed for recreational purposes would probably be acceptable. There is likely to be a demand for formed public-open-space areas in this vicinity with the construction of Lai King Low-Cost-Housing Estate.
A preliminary site-formation scheme for the Lai Chi Kok borrow area is shown on Drawing 14. It is estimated that this would yield a total of 1.2 million cu. yds. of material of which about 300,000 would be mainly rock. The cost of this, including forming access, transporta- tion to the Terminal site, necessary drainage, protection of cutting slopes and grassing of the platforms is estimated at $4 per cu. yd. from the northern platforms and $5 from the other higher platforms.
11.10 The Texaco borrow area is in Tsuen Wan Planning Areas 10, and 26 and most of it is zoned for industrial use. It is estimated that this industrial land will be required in about 5 years time to keep pace with the residential development in the area. It is recommended therefore that this borrow area be reserved for the Container Terminal until 1974 or until such time as it is required for development thereafter.
11.11 A feature of this borrow area is that the proposed Tsuen Wan By-pass linking the Kwai Chung Road with the Castle Peak Road beyond Tsuen Wan passes through it and this project is also independent of the Container Terminal. No definite timing for this By-pass has yet been fixed but it is listed as a Stage 2 project in the Long Term Road Study and is recommended for construction in the period 1971-1976.
11.12 A proposed site-formation scheme for the Texaco borrow area is shown on Drawing 15. There are some clearance problems involved but these are unlikely to be serious as the proposed site-formation layout, where possible, avoids affecting existing factories and other permanent buildings. The layout as shown has been planned to produce a large amount of material for reclamation, but if less is required higher platform levels would be acceptable.
11.13 It is estimated that if formed to the levels indicated, this area would produce a total of 5.3 million cu. yds. of which 3.5 million cu. yds. would be mainly rock. The cost of this, including transportation to the Terminal site, is estimated at $4.40 per cu. yd.
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