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Proposed container back-up yard at Kwun Tong

sunk to take a 300 ft. long cap beam on which will be mounted a huge Butters rail crane with a 130 ft. boom and a capacity of 40 tons.

On the other side of the harbour at Kwun Tong, a back-up yard for the terminal will be con- structed for container storage. A large static crane will be set up there alongside a 460 ft. long and 125 ft. wide column-free storage shed.

The consulting engineers for both schemes are K.T. Philcox and Associates. Plans have been sub- mitted to the Building Ordinance Office and work is expected to start within the next few weeks.

Bids for telephone exchange

Singapore Telephone Board has invited tenders for construction of the S$2 million telephone exchange planned at the junction of Kitchener Road and Rochore Road.

To serve the Golden Mile area, the exchange will have 40,000 lines, later to be increased to 50,000 lines. The building will be a five-storey rein- forced concrete framed structure with a built-up area of 57,000 sq. ft. Work will start within the next two months and is due for completion early in 1971.

Metrication committee set up

A Metrication Committee, under the chairman- ship of Dr. the Hon. S.Y. Chung, has been set up in Hong Kong to advise the Government on whether the metric system should be adopted and, if so, the extent and tempo of any change.

Members of the committee are: the director of public works, the director of commerce and indus- try, the director of government supplies, the de- puty economic secretary, Mr. J.C. Cassels of Tai Koo Dockyard and Engineering Co., Mr. M. Milli- ken of Dodwell & Co. Ltd., Mr. W.G. Minto of Sworn Measurers and Weighers (HK) Ltd., Dr. A. Deans Peggs of the education department, and Mr. M.C.R. Talamo, representing the Engineering Society of Hong Kong.

Appointed by the Governor for a period of

period of

three years, the committee's terms of reference

are:

'To consider the implication for Hong Kong of the increasing world-wide use of the metric system with particular reference to the UK and the USA.

'To advise the Governor (and any organisation which may seek its advice) on the timing of a change to the metric system in different sectors of the economy and to guide and keep progress under review, including making recommendations on such legislation as may be necessary.

'To set up such sub-committees, and to co-opt such additional members, as the committee con- siders necessary.'

Record number of AIT graduates

A record number of 75 students graduated from the Asian Institute of Technology last month. The largest national representation was Thailand's with 31 graduates. The Republic of China was next with 15 followed by Pakistan with 13, the Philip- pines with 7, Korea with 3, Malaysia with 2 and Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Turkey and Vietnam with one each.

Their degrees covered the five AIT civil en- gineering disciplines: six in environmental; 15 in geotechnical; 23 in structural engineering and mechanics; 12 in transportation and 19 in water science and engineering.

Joint owners bill

Legal backing for the voluntary management of sub-divided buildings by co-owners of the property is provided in the Multi-storey Buildings (Owners Incorporation) Bill 1970 just presented to the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

The main aim of the bill, which follows the general pattern of the original bill, is to enable owners of individual flats in a multi-storey building to form themselves into a corporation to deal with matters affecting them jointly, and in particular with the control and management of the corridors, entrance halls, lifts and other common areas.

Far East BUILDER, June 1970

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