CO129-540-5 Water supply- Shing Mun Valley Waterworks scheme 11-5-1932 - 7-12-1932 — Page 94

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

MINUTES.

The Minutes of the previous meeting of Council were confirmed.

SHING MUN SCHEME.

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS.-

Sir, on Your Excellency's instructions a reply to the telegram from the Secretary of State for the Colonies has been sent, pointing out that it is the urgent wish of this Government to take advantage of the next dry season to make a commencement with the second section of the Shing Mun Scheme and enquiring as to the amount of the expenditure which Messrs. Sir Alex. Binnie Son & Deacon estimate will be incurred during the current year. The telegram also asked that they be requested to state the date by which their Chief Resident Engineer may be expected to arrive in Hong Hong, and instructions were asked for as to what preliminary works might be carried out departmentally such as the approach road, pending his arrival.

On receipt of this information it will be possible to ask this Council for a supplementary vote to cover the expenditure during 1932,

With your permission, Sir, I shall give a brief statement of the present position of the Shing Mun Scheme, Second Section, and of the work to be undertaken by Messrs. Sir Alex. Binnie Son & Deacon.

The Second Section of the Shing Mun Scheme as first proposed in 1922 consisted of three reservoirs known as the Gorge Dam, Shing Mun Village Dam and Middle Hill Dam with an approximate total capacity of 2,000 million gallons.

On later investigation at the site it was found that the foundations of the Shing Mun Village Dam were not favourable and it was decided to abandon this site and raise the Gorge Dam to give the additional storage. The raising of the Gorge Dam will flood out a portion of the Middle Hill Dam site making it uneconomical and it has therefore also been abandoned.

The Gorge Dam therefore after further investigation was moved slightly upstream and raised to give a depth of water of 175 feet and the project was submitted to Government.

As this structure would have been of very considerable magnitude, exceeding in height almost any existing dam in England, the Secretary of State for the Colonies before approving the scheme advised that it should be examined by the Consulting Engineers, Messrs. Sir Alex. Binnie Son & Deacon. Consequently, the site was visited by representatives of the Consulting Engineers in January 1931 and October 1931.

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