No_3_March_and_April__1950 — Page 30

LISH

A

WELL

....

THE

STORE

Plan of the upper basement with photographs showing the entrance and ramp to garages

SAMA

190

T

Two views of offices in the Distribution Department

28

There were two separate stages in the construction; the site formation and retaining walls initially, and then the building itself thereafter. The ground is all of decomposed granite with large boulders which had to be cut by hand, and forms an excellent foundation besides putting much less pressure on the retaining walls than was expected. No timbering was required for excavation work except on the upper basement level where the column footings had to be taken though old building debris. Although the site is one of the oldest in the Colony there was little of interest found in the debris apart from the remains of a rusty sword,

Detailed Description of Accommodation

The Distribution Department of The Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd., is now in one building.-the Meter Department occupying the whole of the ground floor and the Mains Department the whole of the first floor.

Ground floor accommodation is provided for the offices of the Meter Superintendent, Assistant Meter Superintenden!, Installation Engineers, Five-Yearly Test Engineer, Test Room Engineers, Workshops, Instrument room, Paintshop and Test Rooms.

New testing equipment and new standards have been installed in the test room, in order to deal with the increased demand for meters, at the same time maintaining the regula- tion degree of accuracy. The workshop is equipped with the usual machines for all meter maintenance, the capacity of these being naturally for small sized jobs only. An engraving machine is used for all property plates and very often for re-scaling instrument dials. The paintshop chiefly handles the painting of meter cases, which are done with heavy enamel and baked. This is far more durable than any sprayed work and does not necessitate covering the nameplates etc.

The first floor provides offices for the Distribution Engineer, Mains Engineer, Assistant Mains Engineer, Sub- station Engineer, Cable Engineer, Central District Engineer, Clerk of Works and for stores for stationery and sub- departments.

The upper basement on the north side of the building (on the same level as the garage and Meter Store), has been designed as the largest and most up-to-date substation ever Installed in Hong Kong.

Page 30Page 31