856
14
above datum, for the supply of the Hill District, power being derived from the water passing from the filter beds to the service reservoir for supplying the low levels of the City. The motor was got to work in November and has run very satisfactorily since.
(ii.) High Level Service Reservoir.— A covered service reservoir, having a capacity of 400,000 gallons, was constructed to the south of the Military Hospital site, above Bowen Road, at an elevation of 650 feet. The floor is of cement concrete, the walls of lime concrete faced with brickwork in cement mortar and the arching of brickwork in cement mortar. The reservoir is constructed largely below ground level and is filled by the motor above described.
(iii) Main connecting High Level Service Reservoirs.-The laying of a wrought iron main, 6 inches in diameter, from the service reservoir above described, along Bowen Road to the foot of the Peak Road, where it joins the High Level system of mains, was undertaken and was well advanced by the end of the year. This main links up the new reservoir with the existing one above Glenealy, thus enab- ling either to be utilized in case of anything going wrong with the other. It also makes the various motors interchangeable for pumping into either of the reservoirs.
(iv.) Service Reservoir on Mount Gough.-Great delay arose in starting this work in consequence of protracted negotiations with the owner of Rural Building Lot No. 1 for the purchase of a site which had been selected for the reservoir. The price asked for the land being considered prohibitive, and the further delay which would have been caused by resorting to the Crown Lands Resumption Ordinance being undesirable, a somewhat less favourable site was selected on adjacent Crown land. A contract for the work was entered into before the close of the year.
54. Storm Water Nullah, Mongkoketsui.-The construction of this nullah, which drains the low-lying cultivated land in front of the old village of Mong Kok, was undertaken towards the end of the year.
55. Police Station at Sheung Shui.-The site of the new Station in the Sheung Ü district of the New Territory was transferred from Fu-ti-au, where it was originally intended to be, to Sheung Shui. Good progress was made with the construction of the buildings, most of the timberwork of the roofs being fixed before the end of the year.
56. Kowloon Waterworks.-In consequence of an insufficiency of staff, the carry- ing out of the new scheme for the supply of water to Kowloon by gravitation was en- trusted to Messrs DENISON, RAM & GIBBS. Previous to joining the firm of Messrs. DENISON & RAM, Mr. GIBBS, as an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Depart- ment, with which he was connected for 9 years, had reported on the scheme which, with considerable amplification, was adopted; hence the reason for entrusting the work to this firm. The preliminary arrangements were concluded in July and, at the end of October, the amplified scheme was submitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Sessional Paper No. 158). The estimated cost of the work is $835,000 as compared with an original estimate of $380,000, the principal increase being in the Storage Reservoir, which is calculated to contain 310 million gallons instead of 120 millions as originally proposed. Part of the increase is accounted for by the advance in prices which occurred between the dates of the two estimates.