C.A.
84
-14
59.
60.
61.
62.
sites on the Shing Mun River below the gorge, the reservoirs
formed by which would, in any case, involve pumping.
It is evident that if the Shing Mun Reservoir is
to be available in time to avoid a recurrence of the all too
frequent restrictions which have occurred in the past, its
construction should be put in hand as soon as plans can be
prepared.
The Gorge Dam and the subsidiary dam at Pineapple
Pass involve some 340,000 cubic yards of concrete, and in a
structure of such a height as the Gorge Dam construction
should not proceed at an excessive rate, so that once the
final foundations have been exposed it will take some 31⁄2 to
4 years to complete the work, or 4 to 52 years in all.
Even with European contractors we gather that it
has proved difficult to get as fully complete a plant layout
as is, in the Engineer's opinion, necessary for expeditious
and satisfactory work on the much smaller construction works
now being carried out.
In this case the finding of an adequate source of
suitable sand is likely to cause difficulty.
This may
possibly be met by the location of some beaches in the
vicinity of Tai Po, which would involve an aerial cableway
some 5 miles in length. The alternative is to pulverize
the granite as was done at Singapore, and to add as much
suitable sand as may be found available in reasonably
accessible beaches. The probable source of sand supply is
a matter which calls for early investigation as, apart from
other considerations, it affects the amount and nature of the