ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL OFFICE
Assistant Director:
D. W. WALKER, B.Sc. (Eng.), M.I.Mech.E., A.M.I.E.E.
GENERAL
7.01. The role of this Sub-department can be divided into two broad categories—firstly the technical design, manufacture and installation of new projects, and secondly the operation of workshops and allied facilities for the maintenance and repair of Government's electrical and mechanical plant and equipment. A third role which is basically a subsidiary of the second category is the operation of plant—particularly air-conditioning and hospital boiler plant—and the operation of the transport vehicle pool.
7.02. With effect from April, 1963, responsibility for the design and installation of air-conditioning, refrigeration and ventilation equipment in Government premises was transferred to the Architectural Office. The operation and maintenance of the plant however remains the responsibility of this Sub-department, and the Air-conditioning Section—which previously operated as a separate entity has now been embodied into the Mechanical Section. This has streamlined the structure of the Sub-department into two basic sections—Mechanical and Electrical.
7.03. The new Kowloon Electrical and Mechanical Workshops at To Kwa Wan Road were completed in April, 1963. The mechanical workshop moved from their old premises at San Shan Road into the new premises in May, followed by the Electrical Depot from Hung Hom in June. The moves were planned so as to cause minimum interruption in the work of these sections and called for meticulous planning by the Workshop Officer and his staff.
7.04. The occupation of the new Kowloon Workshops marks the first occasion in the history of the Electrical & Mechanical Office when all its various workshop activities have been housed under the same roof. This has enabled the workshop elements of the mechanical, electrical and air-conditioning and refrigeration sections to be combined into a single workshop unit under the overall control of an Engineer, with resultant economies in materials, labour and supervision. This desirable state of affairs cannot be implemented in Hong Kong until the second stage of the building project at Caroline Hill is completed in 1965.
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