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PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
The plant will deal with 240 tonnes of refuse a day and will be capable of a future upgrading to 480 tonnes a day.
Late in the year, consideration was being given to the building of a composting plant at Sha Tin. If built, the plant could be operational by early 1981.
Construction of a pilot refuse baling plant at Sai Tso Wan commenced in July and will be completed early in 1979. This will be the first refuse baling plant in Hong Kong and it will have a capacity of 600 tonnes a day.
Port Works
On Hong Kong Island, construction work for a total of 1,840 metres of seawall con- tinued in Western District, at Po Chong Wan and Shek Pai Wan in Aberdeen, and at Aldrich Bay. A contract was let for the construction of 900 metres of seawall founda- tion in Western District. The construction of a second passenger ferry pier at North Point continued.
In Kowloon, a new ferry pier and concourse at Sham Shui Po and a temporary ferry pier at Mei Foo Sun Tsuen, Lai Chi Kok, were completed. At Hung Hom, construc- tion work for a new ferry pier was nearing completion. A contract was let for the construction of the last section of the seawall for the Sham Shui Po Reclamation. The construction of the seawall for the reclamation at Cheung Sha Wan was well advanced. At Kowloon Bay, construction of the last section of the seawall was completed.
In the New Territories, a start was made on the construction of breakwaters for Cheung Chau Typhoon Shelter. On completion, the typhoon shelter will provide a gross shelter area of approximately 63 hectares. In the Rambler Channel Typhoon Shelter, reclamation work to provide land for cargo handling was nearing completion. At Tai Po, construction work continued on the 1,100 metres of seawall for the reclama- tion required for the future industrial estate. A total of 400 metres of seawall was con- structed to retain reclamation in Tai Lam Bay.
In Victoria Harbour dredging work to reduce the sea bed to its original level con- tinued at the mooring areas south of Stonecutters Island.
Quarrying
In order to increase further the production of crushed rock aggregates in Hong Kong, contracts were let during 1978 for two new quarries. One commenced production dur- ing the year while the other will begin operations early in 1979. In addition to the two government quarries, there were six contract quarries in operation during 1978. Investigations into sites for future quarries also began.
Because of the continued heavy demand for construction materials in Hong Kong, production of the existing contract quarries has further increased through the more efficient use of existing plant and the installation of additional processing equipment. The recently-modernised government quarry at Mount Butler was in full production during 1978, and work began during the year on modernising the other government quarry at Diamond Hill in Kowloon. As a result, production at the two quarries increased by one-third during the year. Total production in all the quarries during 1978 reached the record figure of 8,850,000 cubic metres of crushed rock aggregates. In addition, a large volume of bitumen-coated material and ready-mixed concrete was supplied.