PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TELEC.O. 882
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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53 linear feet of concrete walling constructed for bank protection. 79 linear feet of 18-inch pipe culvert set in cement.
Mr. Eves's reasons for stopping the work were partly because he considered the rates for it too high and partly because of the commencing rainy season.
It has not yet been resumed, though it will be in a few days' time, under Mr. F. W. W. Valpy, Assistant Engineer, who arrived in the Colony on the 4th instant.
4. Beyond a very small amount of work at the approach cuttings at either end of the tunnel, and the foundations for one 15-foot bridge near the south end, practically no work has been done that will form part of the permanent line.
5. On the south face, a shaft intended to reach the level of the bottom of the tunnel at 90 feet, which was commenced on the 15th May, had reached a depth of 64 feet 7 inches on the 10th September. On the north face one intended to reach the level of the bottom of the tunnel at 45 feet, commenced towards the end of June, was completed towards the end of August, but the Chief Resident Engineer is waiting for the arrival of trained miners from England before commencing to drive a heading from it.
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As regards temporary works the following have been carried out:-
(i.) A storeyard, with bamboo fence enclosure, and two large wooden sheds has been formed at Tai Kok Tsui to the north-west of Kowloon. (ii.) A service road, about a mile and a half in length, has been constructed in continuation of an existing road to the south tunnel face. For about half its length the embankment thrown up for it will form part of the permanent bank.
(iii) About three-quarters of a mile of metre gauge line has been laid from the
storeyard towards the south tunnel face.
(iv.) A temporary pier for landing stores has been constructed in Tide Cove and a service road about a mile long has been made to complete com- munication from this pier to the north tunnel face.
(v.) Two wooden houses with tiled roofs for miners, one for the Assistant Engineer's Office, and one for the Doctor's quarters, have been com- pleted, and similar houses for the Assistant Engineer's quarters and for Chinese subordinates are in hand at the south tunnel face. One of two sheds to contain drilling plant has been erected there and sites prepared for workshops. A number of matsheds for labourers have also been put up.
(vi.) One wooden hut has been erected at the north tunnel face and sites pre- pared for others and for workshops. Here also a number of matsheds have been erected.
A considerable amount of cross-sectioning has been carried out as well as some realignment of the railway south of the south tunnel face.
8. Good progress has been made on designs for bridges and on the plan of the Kowloon Station Yard. As far as I can judge, accounts and correspondence are satisfactorily kept.
9. The above scarcely seems to me to represent sufficient progress for nearly six months' work. Undoubtedly the full staff has only recently become available, but with six Engineers now in the Colony-Messrs. Eves, Logan, Baker, Valpy, Steen, and Southey, the work should now be advancing rapidly and it is not doing so.
10. On the 10th September I took the Director of Public Works with me to visit the south tunnel face and gave him the weekly progress reports furnished me by Mr. Eves to read. I enclose a copy of Mr. Chatham's minute on these reports and on his visit.
11. I also enclose a copy of the last of these reports (No. 19). On my pointing out to Mr. Eves that it was meagre and did not furnish me with the full information I required to satisfy me that the work was progressing as it should, he said that he did not consider it necessary to obtain weekly reports from his subordinates, nor that he should, as a rule, visit the works himself more than once a month. I was unable to concur in these views.
12. It is possible that in my desire to see the railway construction progress apidly I have over-estimated the rate at which this progress should be made and nder-estimated the difficulties attendant on first starting the undertaking. But
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some time having elapsed since the undertaking was put in hand, and seeing no imme- diate prospect of more rapid progress being made, I have thought it necessary to com- municate my dissatisfaction to your Lordship, so that it might be brought to the notice of the Consulting Engineers, who are responsible for the rapid, efficient, and economical construction of this railway.
I have, &c.,
M. NATHAN,
Governor.
P.S. Since writing the above the typhoon of the 18th of September has occurred. I have received no report as yet from Mr. Eves of its effects on the railway, but from other sources I have learnt that the store buildings and all matsheds have been washed away. I do not yet know what damage has been done to the tunnel
shafts.
Enclosure 1 in No. 298.
KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY.
NOTES on Chief Resident Engineer's Weekly Reports and Visit of Inspection on 10th September, 1906. YOUR EXCELLENCY,
THE reports of the Chief Resident Engineer are very discouraging, and afford no indication of any real progress being made with the work. The season has been an exceptionally favourable one for outdoor operations on account of the small rain- fall, as may be gathered from the following figures:-
Muy
June
July
August...
Average of 20 years.
1906.
13-43
11:58
16.80
5.90
13.32
6.95
14:22
3.97
Work on the south side of the Kowloon range of hills was begun early in May,
the service road to the tunnel face, and the sinking of a shaft being first undertaken. The latter work was begun on the 15th.
Practically, four months have elapsed since then. The service road (about
1 miles long) is still incomplete, and the shaft has been sunk a depth of 64 feet 7 inches, an average of about 6 inches per day.
had
The approach cutting to the south face of tunnel was not begun until the middle of July, when a contract for it was reported to have been let (vide report 21st July, 1906). On the 25th August, it was reported that "a new man made a start on the approach cutting. The work can only be said to have been begun, and it is only in progress at one point. Very few coolies were at work on the 10th September.
A contract was let in the middle of July for a bridge near the south face of the tunnel (15 feet arch). The foundations for one wing wall are not in yet; as regards the remainder, two rows of footings have been laid on one side, and one row on the other.
A number of structures of a temporary character have been erected about the south face of the tunnel. Some of them are not yet completed.
The inspection on the 10th September was limited to that portion of the route south of the Kowloon range of hills.
With regard to the work north of Kowloon range, the Chief Resident Engineer's reports show that a shaft was begun towards the end of June at the north tunnel face, and was completed in the end of August. The service road on this side is about completed, and a temporary pier has been erected in Tide Cove. The approach cutting to the tunnel was begun later in August. Temporary dwellings, &c., have been erected.
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