4.
13
RE-OPENING THE ENGINFERING FACULTY.
If, in view of the above considerations, it is decided to reopen the Faculty of Engineering the next question for discussion is "on what lines?"
Both the financial position and the policy of Government with regard to the University not having been announced yet, it is assumed in what follows that the main objection to reopening the Faculty on pre-war lines lies in the heavy expenditure required for equipment and (to a
lesser extent) maintenance.
FIRST PROPOSAL.
(1) The Civil Engineering Dept. should be reopened in any case and
maintained at full strength. This department is, compared with the others, far cheaper to equip and maintain. The facilities for teaching Civil Engineering are good. The winter months are ideal for Surveying and Field Astronomy and the terrain, especially in the New Territories, is excellent for nearly every kind of field training. Conditions for teaching Hydraulics are also favourable. The principal requirement, at present, is a well-equipped laboratory for testing cement, concrete, steel and other building materials.
wowed
Since such a laboratory could, by arrangement, carry out all tests required by the Public Works and Harbour Departments of Hong Kong it is not unreasonable to hope that Government wild help to finance it either by means of a contribution towards the initial cost of erection and equipment or by an annual maintenance grant.
The cost of new equipment for the Civil Engineering Department is roughly as follows:-
Surveying:
£2,000
Hydraulics: £2,000
Materials Lab. £6,000
£10,000
Total:
To which must be added (say) 20% for transport and installation charges.
With regard to accomodation, shortly before war broke out, two
buildings for the C.E.Department were placed highest on the priority list, namely:-
(a) A three-storeyed building on the site of the old Pumping Station
on Pokfulam Rd. The ground floor was to house the Materials and