Appendix Q.
KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY.
British Section.
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1909.
As I took over late in the year I am not in a position to describe in any detail the progress which has been made during the season 1909 and 1910 and will therefore confine myself to a statement of affairs at the end of the year.
Land,
Lots 618 to 1,140 were acquired with a view to placing the terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui.
It was proposed to exchange a portion of the reclaimed ground close to the China Light and Power Company's premises for the ground known as the Match Factory and compensation would then have had to be paid for the buildings only. It has been possible however to level off a site at the back of the Match Factory on Crown Land and make use of the spoil to make up the approaches to Gascoigne Road thus avoiding the exchange and adding a valuable piece of land practically free of charge to the Railway.
Earthwork.
A great deal of Earthwork North of Beacon Hill Tunnel has been completed.
A certain amount of damage was done by typhoons to the banks between Miles 7 and 12 and one bad slip occurred in Cutting No. 30 at Mile 10. All damage is now being repaired and the slip has been cleared away and retaining walls are being built to prevent recurrence. At Mile 15½ there is a very wet and troublesome cutting. The Contractors, having practically finished the amount of work contracted for, have been relieved of further work and the cutting is being finished on piece work, and is well forward towards completion. It is anticipated that it will be sloped and drained before the heavy rains. South of Beacon Hill the work is in a very unfinished state due to gaps caused by the rebuilding of bridges and the amount of work left to be done at the Reclamation.
The girders for the new bridges will not be out before April by which time the bridges and their approaches will be ready.
An alteration of Centre Line in Cutting No. 1 for which sanction was obtained will enable the cutting to be completed before the time originally anticipated and will obviate the expenditure contemplated as necessary to make the cutting safe had the original Centre Line been adhered to. Some five million cubic feet of filling remain to complete the reclamation between Blackheads and the Storm Water Outfall, as well as a portion of about two hundred feet long of the sea wall, which cannot be got in until the filling is more advanced, owing to the possibility of scouring out the pierre perdu