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A LOOK BACK : CIVIL ENGINEERING IN HONG KONG 1841-1941
Preface
C. MICHAEL GUILFORD
This brief wide-ranging general article written as a contribution to mark the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (from 1947-1975, The Engineering Society of Hong Kong). It was originally published in three parts in Asia Engineer, the Journal of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (July, August and September 1997).
In this reprint, the opportunity has been taken to make minor corrections, mainly typographical, and to add 17 illustrations which should make the article more interesting. The author would like to express his thanks to Henderson & Associates, the publishers of Asia Engineer, for their kind agreement for the article to be reprinted in the Journal.
Introduction
Before the British arrived in 1841 the population on Hong Kong Island, who lived in or around 20 small villages, was less than 6,000 (about a third being afloat), whilst in Kowloon there were probably around 2,000 souls and, in the New Territories (then part of San On district) about 100,000 persons living in some 600 villages. At this time granite quarrying around the harbour was a thriving industry (for example at Quarry Bay and Hok Un), much of it being used locally with some being exported by boat to Canton (Guangzhou). The abundance of old lime kilns around the seashore indicates that there was no shortage of lime for the production of cementing material.
Civil engineering works were generally simple and geared to meet the needs of the rural and fishing communities. As a result a network of rural paths, some paved with granite setts, and footbridges were constructed, an example of the latter being the existing Pin Mo Bridge at Shui Tau (near Kam Tin) which was built in 1710 (49th year of K'ang Hsi), a simple twin-span structure with the decking formed by