COMMUNICATIONS AND BROADCASTING
coaches, orders placed after the war being still out- standing at the end of the year. There is, however, every prospect of them arriving during the next few months, and when they do the railway will be in a better position than pre-war as regards rolling stock, equipment, plant and buildings.
Roads
There are approximately 429 miles of roads in the Colony, 181 miles being on Hong Kong Island, 109 miles in Kowloon and 139 miles in the New Territories. About 90% of these roads are of fairly modern cons- truction with a bitumen sealed surface.
The density of road traffic has continued to in- crease, and the growth of new industrial and residential areas has called for a heavy increase in the number and capacity of utility services carried under the roadways. This factor together with the increasing demands of traffic have necessitated an increasing programme of road reconstruction. Approximately 40% of the increased expenditure on roads was spent on the reconstruction of bus routes, usually with 8 inches of vibrated concrete and a one inch black-top wearing carpet. The balance was spent on mainten- ance and improvement of street lighting.
The Public Works Department operates two quarries with crushing and central mixing plants for bituminous macadam. Some 160,000 tons of stone are crushed annually and of this amount 50,000 tons is treated with bitumen for road surfacing.
In the New Territories the programme of improve- ments continued. At Au Tau work was completed on the Colony's longest bridge, 275 feet long with a 22 feet carriageway and two 7 feet footways of reinforced
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