9.25. Work commenced on the provision of feeder roads linking the remote villages of Ting Kok with Tai Po and Tai Wan with Sai Kung.
9.26. Bus termini and car parks were under construction at several locations including Clear Water Bay Road and Castle Peak and the construction of a new bridge commenced at Hung Shui Kiu to replace the existing narrow bridge.
QUARRIES
9.27. Demands for quarry products continued to exceed production and it was necessary to give priority to the supply of stone for the manufacture of road-surfacing materials.
9.28. Production of spalls suffered a setback when the introduction of a new bonus system was received unfavourably by the quarry workers. Despite lengthy negotiations, it was only after a considerable time that the individual output of stone breakers returned to normal. So that demands for road surfacing materials could be met, arrangements were made to supplement production by the supply of spalls from Development Contracts.
9.29. A comparison of production of the last four years can be made from the following table:
Quarry Total Stone (Tons) Bitumen Mixes (Tons) Total Hok Yuen 1960-61 122,6041961-62 104,886
1962-63 98,074
1963-64 95,698 1960-61 72,392
1961-62 86,085
1962-63 70,186
1963-64 85,277 Mt. Butler 1960-61 119,792
1961-62 100,211
1962-63 103,297
1963-64 87,357 1960-61 33,788
1961-62 30,252
1962-63 36,130
1963-64 33,674 Total 1960-61 106,180
1961-62 116,337
1962-63 106,316
1963-64 118,951
242,396 205,097 201,371 183,055
9.30. Towards the end of the year Hok Un Quarry approached the limit of economic operation and several possible alternative sites were examined in detail. Finally Diamond Hill Quarry was chosen to replace Hok Un Quarry and preliminary plans were made for the transfer of plant and operations to the new quarry.
9.31. Test blasts using Ammonium Nitrate and fuel oil mixtures were successfully fired in the rock face at Mt. Butler Quarry. A high yield was obtained and in view of the comparatively low cost, arrangements were made for a large-scale trial prior to the possible general use of this type of explosives in Government Quarries.
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