December_1966 — Page 66

January 1965. Completion of foundations of silos and mill building

jacent to Bukit Batu Undan, a 500 ft. high dense jungle clad hill. Prelimin- ary surveys however showed ample deep water in a natural, well shelter- ed anchorage to accommodate ocean- going vessels up to 20,000 tons. Be- cause of this anchorage, the only one now available on the west coast of mainland Malaysia, the site at Batu Undan was finally selected for the project.

The company had therefore to construct all the necessary services. including a three-mile access road to the nearest public road, marine facili- ties for ocean-going grain carriers, its own power station for electrical sup- ply, a pumped water supply with treatment and storage, staff accom- modation, and even a ferry service to transport workers to and from Lumut town.

Work commenced in January 1963 with the construction of the three- mile access road to the site and clear- ing of jungle.

The main civil engineering works comprised:

(a) Jungle clearing and site works. (b)

Roadworks.

(c) Jetty.

(d)

(e)

(f)

Mill and silo building. Power house and raw water pumping station.

Water supply.

Due to the very steep and difficult terrain of Batu Undan, the complex is spread over an area of approxim- ately 37 acres, along the west bank of the Dindings River. Siting of the various buildings and access roads within the complex necessitated heavy excavation and with rock near the surface, a large amount of granite had to be quarried and disposed off. This granite was of good quality and a series of crushers were set up on site and much of this rock was crush- ed for use as concrete aggregates.

Mill and Silo Building

The mill and silo building, a rein- forced concrete framed structure with cement rendered brick infill walls of overall length 488 ft.. height 181 ft. and width 76 ft., was sited on a spur of Batu Undan, 90 ft. high, adjacent to the deepest water. The formation level of the mill building was 33.00

ft. to accommodate the gradient of the intake tunnel for conveying wheat from the jetty. This necessitated re- moval of 130,000 cu. yd. of earth and 56,000 cu. yd. of rock at a time when Confrontation was at its height and explosive supply under the strictest control.

The silo block, length 211 ft., width 38 ft. and height 150 ft., con- sists of 18 circular bins of 22 ft. dia- meter and 81⁄2 star or interface bins measuring 22 ft. by 22 ft. All are of reinforced concrete and are capable of storing a total of 35,000 tons of wheat.

The wheat is conveyed to the silos from the jetty by band conveyor through a 6 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. 6 in. intake tunnel running under the jetty then underground to the mill building and then hoisted vertically to the top of the silo bins for distribution and storage.

The central portion of the building block, the working tower length 105 ft., height 181 ft. comprises in 12 floors the working house. three floors of administration, laboratories and other workrooms. In this sec-

58

TURFING

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

RECI

POOL

TOSHOP

Far East Architect & Builder December, 1966