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Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841-1941

REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT

Enclosure 2 in No. 43.

SIR,

Surveyor-General's Office, Victoria,

January 22, 1847.

I HAVE the honour to submit the following report upon the works that have been executed during the year last past, as also upon the general state of repair of all the roads and works in

the island.

Roads.

The works upon the Queen's Road have consisted in the completion of the service authorized under Report and Estimate, No. 2, of 1844, together with the construction of the side channels, Report and Estimate, No. 13, of 1845, and drains or culverts which were autho- rized under Reports and Estimates, Nos. 1 and 4, of 1844.

These services, I think, will be found ample for all the requirements of that district, ex- tending from the Ice-house to Ta-ping-shan. In every instance the drains both above and below ground have been found to answer very satisfactorily, and in general that part of the road has been and is at this present moment in very good order, and the only repairs that can in future be called for I hope will consist in the application of sea-sand to the surface, at any rate until wheel carriages become more numerous.

In the district extending from the Canton Bazaar to the Wongneichung Valley, some neces- sary works have been undertaken, and the direction and levels of the road have been much improved, particularly opposite the new Military Hospital, where the straightening of the line by removing the large projecting rocks has given a view of that fine building, as well as being of service in permitting a freer circulation of air.

The surface is now in very good order. Included in the authority for this work is the pro- posed bridge at the North Barracks, which is about to be commenced and will be completed before the next heavy rains, so that the public will not be inconvenienced by the stoppage of the road, as they have been for the last two years.

The streets in the town have now almost all the under-ground drains finished, and when the formation of the side channels is completed, the general appearance of the district will be very much improved, and I have every hope that little or no damage will result from the rains next season, notwithstanding the steepness of some of the streets. Much difficulty has been expe- rienced in bringing these streets to the uniform inclination, as originally proposed, in consequence of the impossibility of compelling the lessees to erect their houses on the levels assigned for them, and thus in some instances the door-ways are a little above the road, in others too low. This, however, I have tried to arrange in the most satisfactory manner for those parties, at the same time having due regard to the requirements of the public at large.

The Aberdeen road has been completed during the year (Reports and Estimates, Nos. 12 and 12 A. of 1844, and 12 of 1845). No damage of any kind has happened thereto, and the surface repairs on the whole length have not exceeded 13s. 6d. per mile.

The old road to Stanley has had a thorough repair during the last year, and the means adopted to preserve the surface from such extensive damage as annually occurred thereto, has been found to answer very satisfactorily.

The direction and very objectionable levels upon this line have so often been remarked upon, that it is unnecessary for me to do so now. At present it is in very good order; but the surface repairs upon it must always exceed those of other and less steep roads.

That portion of the line from Tytam to Stanley, which was by far the worst part of it, is now being improved under Report and Estimate, No. 2, of 1846, and when completed I hope will be considered a serviceable road, thus opening a communication with Stanley, which might be made available for wheel carriages, vid Saiwan, the other route being perfectly useless for such

a purpose.

The Saiwan and Tytam road was completed and rendered more secure than originally con- templated, under Report and Estimate; No. 9, of 1845, and with the exception of that portion through the quarries at Sookewan, has remained in a very excellent state of repair. The drains and bridges have answered very well indeed, and have been proved to give sufficient water-way during the heaviest rains.

In a country, the hills of which are of so peculiar a formation, the size of these drains and bridges could only be fixed immediately after the heaviest rains by a careful examination of the surface over which the stream passed in the immediate neighbourhood of the proposed site, and notwithstanding the extreme velocity of the water passing in heavy foods which often carries with it stones of nearly half a ton weight, no damage has occurred to the masonry, and the water-way being found to be sufficient, at some future day the wooden platforms of the bridges may be removed, and an arch turned upon the present abutments, which have been constructed with a view to that, arrangement. This applies, of course, only to those bridges which have

stone abutments.

The bridges, which are entirely constructed with wood on this line, are between Causeway Bay and Sookewan, where the road has been formed entirely on the sands, and a foundation could not be obtained for stone abutments without great expense. In this locality immense quantities of debris from the quarries are washed down the road; it frequently changes the whole course of the stream, and commits great-damage by forcing its way across the road, which is invariably destroyed at that point. Many parts of the low land adjoining the road have been raised in one season three or four feet, and at Sookewan the accumulation of this silt has been so great that the water-mark has receded upwards of 100 feet. It has, therefore, been found to be impossible to keep these parts of the line in very complete repair during the rains.

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