XN000022-1972-11-20 — Page 4

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Monday, November 20, 1972

SPEEDING UP MAIL HANDLING

A new mechanised chain conveyor system, designed to facilitate

the transfer of bagged mail, has recently been put into operation at the

General Post Office.

The chain conveyor which runs through a steel bridge above

Connaught Road Central links the GPO and the central compound across

Connaught Road.

The conveyor, which is equipped with a number of hooks, automati-

cally distributes mail at four different processing points around the

building.

Bagged mail which is loaded in the GPO is discharged at the loading

point in the compound for distribution.

The chain conveyor can travel at a speed of 60 feet per minute and

it takes just over eight minutes for a mail bag to reach the farthest point

in the GPO building from the central compound.

The system was installed to alleviate the considerable operational

problems which the reconstruction and widening of Connaught Road Central

posed to the Post Office in the transfer of mail between the GPO and its

vehicles and harbour launches.

Commenting on the system a spokesman for the Post Office said: "The

conveyor goes a long way towards speeding up the flow of mail into and out of

the General Post Office and considerably eases the workload for the staff

involved."

/He added