DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
Chief Engineer:
G. J. SKELT, B.Sc. (Eng.), D.I.C., A.M.I.C.E.
GENERAL
5.01. This office was established five years ago to carry out investigations, survey and planning of major development areas and, where desirable, to form the areas into land suitable for use for housing, industry and community purposes. The volume of work executed continued to increase and contract expenditure rose by 15% over the previous year, although staff vacancies remained unfilled.
INVESTIGATION AND PLANNING
5.02. Plans for the formation of 40 acres of land for industrial development at Sam Ka Tsuen were finalized. In addition, active consideration was given to the formation of 140 acres of land for housing and community use at Development Area No. 1, Lung Cheung Road, the reclamation of 427 acres of Kowloon Bay and the construction of a road from Sha Tin to the village of Siu Lek Yuen.
5.03. Following the procedure of previous years most Public Works Department subsoil investigations were carried out under an annual contract administered by this office. This practice facilitated the collection of subsoil information and a growing library of investigation data was available for reference. Greater emphasis was placed on drilling and percussion boring as these methods proved more reliable and justified the extra cost. A summary of work carried out is given in the following table:
Penetrometer Drilling Percussion Other Offices Totals No. of investigation sites No. Total depth ft. No. Total depth ft. No. Total depth ft. No. of investigation stations Total depth ft. Development Office 672 N 5 93 2,477 6 59 1,750 11 152 4,227 22 1,495 3 9 679 10 31 2,174 9 719 6 28 812 8 37 1,531 5 61 1 10 30 3 15 Well Holes 91 2SURVEY
5.04. The Survey Section was divided into three sub-sections operating in Kwun Tong, Western Mainland, and the Kowloon Central and Hong Kong Island areas.