XN000022-1973-06-20 — Page 23

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Wednesday, June 20, 1973

This meant, he said, that a general empirical method of working safely

with these soils had to be developed and that the special areas, in which

the general empirical solution must be refined, had to be identified.

He assured council that the approach to both these problems was

being improved and that the solutions adopted would take into account all

the relevant comments made by the commission and others.

Mr. Robertson was certain that the lesson of June 1972 would never

be forgotten in Hong Kong and noted that all the immediate actions which

could be taken to meet the situation had already been taken.

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Action was in hand, he said, to identify areas in which site formation

work required special attention and to provide the necessary means to deal with

these areas effectively.

Reporting on the progress' of remedial work during the past two

months, Mr. Robertson said that the major engineering works at Sau Mau Ping

and Po Shan Road had progressed satisfactorily despite bad weather.

Both areas were now considered safe from "all but minor mudslips,

which would be inconvenient but not dangerous".

Consultants had also been appointed, he said, to review the overall

problem of identifying areas of potential danger and to recommend remedial

action, and to prepare a manual of good practice for site formation work as

well as to advise on the procedures necessary to check that site form

formation

proposals were properly presented and works properly executed.

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In addition, the civil engineering staff of the Buildings Ordinance

Office had been strengthened further through the appointment of consultants

to examine new site formation plans,

It was hoped to issue a preliminary guide very soon to authorised

architects to assist them in the preparation of such proposals.

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