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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

ELLICO. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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be required to be employed if the departmental system of construction is adopted, and the remuneration which they propose that they should themselves receive for Their professional services.

4. It will be seen from the Consulting Engineers' letter of the 13th January that, after full consideration, they have arrived at the conclusion that the work should be carried out on the departmental system, and in this opinion we concur.

5. I have now, therefore, to submit the whole question for the Secretary of State's consideration and decision, and to ask for authority to carry out the work in accordance with the Consulting Engineers' recommendation.

6. I would add that the fee the Consulting Engineers ask for their professional services is, in our opinion, very moderate, taking into consideration the fact that Sir John Wolfe Barry is one of the leading engineers of the day.

I have, &c.,

1.

SCHEDULE OF ENCLOSURES.

Consulting Engineers to Crown Agents. 2. Crown Agents to Consulting Engineers. 3. Consulting Engineers to Crown Agents. Crown Agents to Consulting Engineers. 5. Consulting Engineers to Crown Agents. 6. Consulting Engineers to Crown Agents.

4.

GENTLEMEN,

Enclosure 1 in No. 206.

E. E. BLAKE.

December 29, 1905. January 9, 1906. January 13, 1906. January 19, 1906. January 25, 1906. January 25, 1906.

Sir JOHN WOLFE BARRY AND PARTNERS to CROWN AGENTS.

21, Delahay Street, Westminster, S.W., December 29, 1905. Kowloon-Canton Railway-British Section.

In continuation of our letter to you of the 15th instant, we have the honour to report that we have now given our full consideration to Mr. Bruce's report and estimates for the construction of the British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, and we now beg to submit our remarks thereon.

We may recall to your recollection that Mr. Bruce submits preliminary estimates for three different railways, as under :-

Railway No. 1, which has been termed the "low level eastern route," from

Kowloon to Lo Fu, a length of 214 miles;

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Railway No. 2, which has been termed the western route," between the same

points, a length of 34 miles; and,

Railway No. 3, a suggested branch line from Fan Ling Station on Railway No. 1 to Un Long, the centre of a well-cultivated district to the west of Railway No. 1, the length being 84 miles.

For the reasons very clearly set forth by His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong, in his confidential despatch, dated Hong Kong, October 20th, 1905, and in Mr. Bruce's report to His Excellency, dated Kowloon, October 20th, 1905, we have no hesitation in recommending the adoption of Railway No. 1 as being the most advantageous connection between Kowloon and the British frontier, with a view to the line being extended northwards to Canton. We therefore think it unnecessary to refer to the estimates for Railway No. 2 in any way, and we assume that the consideration of the advisability of constructing Railway No. 3, the branch suggested from Fan Ling to Un Long, may also be deferred for the time being. We may observe, however, that Railway No. 3 would be a comparatively cheap line, estimated roughly by Mr. Bruce at about $88,000 per mile without rolling stock, and that this price might be reduced if a lighter description of permanent way were considered to be suitable.

We propose only to deal with the estimate and report on Railway No. 1 at present.

We may say, in the first instance, that Mr. Bruce's total estimate for the con- struction of this line, viz., $4,470,500 (say £447,050), or $207,930 (say £20,793) per mile, exclusive of any provision for rolling stock, coincides very closely with the figures we had, on the information previously at our disposal, anticipated.

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We have really only one important criticism to offer, viz., as to the cost of, and time required for, the construction of the tunnel, 2,460 yards in length, near Kowloon. Until the exact nature of the material to be tunnelled through is known, it is, of course, impossible to forecast with accuracy the cost of such a work. Mr. Bruce, in, his total estimate for Railway No. 1, amounting to $4,470,500, assumes that the tunnel will have to be lined throughout with brick in cement, and that the total cost will be $1,833,200 $749, or say £75, per yard. He, however, suggests that it may be found necessary only to line the roof of the tunnel, and his estimate for construction on this basis is $1,071,540, or $435, say £44, per yard. We certainly think, notwithstanding that it may be unnecessary to line the tunnel throughout, that the higher figure, viz., £75 per yard, must be looked forward to, owing to the considerable length of the tunnel and to the configuration of the hills above, which will probably render it necessary to carry out the entire work from the two end faces without the assistance of intermediate shafts. Though we think the total cost of the tunnel should not exceed Mr. Bruce's estimate of $1,833,200, yet difficulties from water bearing strata, very hard rook, or disintegrated material, or other causes at present unforeseen, may of course be met with, and, in considering the financial arrangements in connection with the railway, we think these possi- bilities should be borne in mind.

In regard to the time for completion of the tunnel, Mr. Bruce estimates that it will take 2 years, which we note that His Excellency considers too low. We quite concur with His Excellency in this view, and, working day and night, we fear that the work will take at least 3 years to complete. This may seem an unduly long time, but, as we pointed out above, the work will probably have to be executed entirely from each end, meeting in the middle, and of course the further into the hill the work proceeds the slower must be the rate of progress, owing to the greater distance spoil has to be removed, and bricks and materials brought in.

As His Excellency points out in paragraph 12 of his despatch above referred to, there are one or two other details in connection with Mr. Bruce's report which require consideration.

First, the extent and nature of the reclamation for the Kowloon terminus and shops, which subject we note is being reported on by Mr. J. F. Boulton, and which we need not therefore touch on at present.

Second, the extent of the accommodation and workshops at Kowloon, and the necessity for a station at Lo Fu Ferry.

Both these latter points depend on the construction of the section of the railway north of the British frontier to Canton, and until that matter is definitely settled, we think we may defer making any remarks.

The last point on which we wish to touch is the provision of rolling stock. We suggest that a sum of £50,000, say $500,000, should be provided for this purpose. This figure will depend on more accurate information as to traffic, which will be obtained during construction, but in the meantime is based on our experience of the cost of rolling stock now being supplied to another railway in China, and should, we think, be amply sufficient for the equipment of the line in the first instance.

In all other respects we consider Mr. Bruce's estimates adequate. This would bring up the total estimated cost of the line to $4,070,500, or roughly, $5,000,000, or, say, £500,000.

We have, &c.,

Enclosure 2 in No. 205.

J. WOLFE Barry.

CROWN AGENTS to Sir J. WOLFE BARRY AND PARTNERS.

(E. 261/2.) GENTLEMEN,

Whitehall Gardens, S.W., January 9, 1906.

WITH reference to the conversation between Sir John Wolfe Barry and myself this morning on the subject of the construction of the British portion of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, I now write to confirm the arrangement we made that you should supplement your report of the 29th December with your recommendations as to the manner in which the line should be constructed, i.e., whether by contract or on the departmental system.

2. The respective advantages of the methods were fully discussed at our meeting, and in coming to a decision as to the method you will recommend, you

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