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Three divers were engaged 'on the work, two from North China, under the supervision of the Go- vernment Diver, Mr. Petroff, and the actual laying occupied 57 days, the average rate of progress being over one hundred feet per day.
The discharging capacity of the Harbour Pipe is 34 million gallons per day at 280 ft. above sea level, at which height the Gar-
¡dens Service Reservoir is to be built. At lower levels the dis- charging capacity would be in- creased.
Satisfactory Tests,
I have received a Report from! Mr. Henderson upon the exceed- ingly satisfactory results of the final pressure test upon the whole Harbour Pipe Line before it was connected to the Land Sections, jand in the Report he acknowledges the very valuable assistance he has received from the Port De- velopment Office, of which Mr. Adam Anderson is in charge, and from the Water Works Mainten- ance Office, now in charge of Mr. Purves, who was previously close- ly associated with Mr. Henderson on the first section of the Shing Mun Scheme. He further reports
that the Netherlands Harbour Works Company (whose repre- sentatives are present to-day) carried through their Contract in a very efficient and satisfactory jmanner, and last, but not least, he very highly commends Mr. Wood- ward, the Engineer who was in charge of this work, for the mark- ed ability and energy which he has displayed throughout and also Mr. Petroff, the Overseeing Diver, who has worked very long hours under very trying conditions.
of
Your Excellency, on behalf the Public Works Department, I would thank you for so graciously coming here to-day to perform the ceremony of opening the valves connecting the Harbour Pipe Line with the Hongkong Water supply and thus enabling this thirsty Island to obtain some of the super- fluous water from the mainland.
H.E.'s Speech.
The Hon. Mr. Southorn, then Įshook hands with Mr. Henderson and other gentlemen, after which The descended to a gangway, erect- Jed below the pier, where he open- ed the wash out valve which dis- charges the water obtained from the Shing Mun River. He ad- dressed the gathering in the fol- lowing words:
Mr. Creasy. I have the greatest! pleasure in accepting your invita- ¡tion to open the valves which will
admit the water of the Shing Mun, River to the Island of Hongkong.
To-day we see the dream of many years made true, with pos- sibilities far beyond the present reality. At present we are de- pendent on the immediate flow of the Shing Mun River for our ad- ditional supply to Hongkong, and until we have large storage re- servoirs on the Kowloon side we shall not have made the Hong-
kong water supply safe. One re- servoir is already under construc- tion, and we hope before long to be able to make a start with the larger and more important re- 'servoir in the Shing Mun Valley. But these reservoirs would be use-
less without the cross-harbour pipe. The design of the pipe-line, as Mr. Creasy has remarked, has been the subject of much contro- ¡versy, and the Government found it necessary to send Mr. Hender- son to England to discuss the plans with the best expert ad- visers at home. The result must have been very gratifying to Mr. Henderson, whose design was ac- cepted with very slight modifica tions. There is an admitted dan- ger in this design, namely that. the pipe might be damaged by careless navigation or by a ship dragging its anchor in a typhoon, but we consider the risk one which it is worth our while to take in view of the great saving of ex-) pense, and on Mr. Henderson's as- surance that repair should be only "a matter of a few weeks.
Heartiest Congratulations.
Mr. Creasy, I offer to Mr. Hen- derson and yourself and to all those connected with you in the work, our heartiest congratula- tions on the successful completion of the cross-harbour pipe. It re- flects the greatest credit on all concerned, and I tender the heartiest thanks of the Colony to :the engineers, divers, contractors and all others who have combined to carry out this work so expedi- tiously and at so reasonable a cost. I wish for this pipe a long life of usefulness to the people of Hong- kong, and I can assure you that even the pipes of Pan could pro- duce no sweeter music in Hong- kong's ears than the music of run- ning water in Mr. Henderson's pipes.
City Hall Fountain Plays. After closing the wash out valve, His Excellency and party
made their way to the junction of Queen's Road Central and Ward- ley Avenue, via Statue Square, where he opened the valve con- necting the Cross Harbour Pipe with the City mains. His action charged the City Hall fountain with Shing Mun River water, which was brought into play, the large crowd present applauding delightedly.
Immediately after performing the function, His Excellency and Mrs. Southorn drove back to Gov- ernment House.
were
The occasion created the deepest interest and there large crowds at both Queen's Pier and the City Hall. The Traffic Department of the Police He: quarters, under the direction Inspector Alexander, patrolle · main thoroughfare between th points, and through traffic suspended for a short interval,
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ديل
1951 END
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