No_4_March_and_April__1949 — Page 23

Reinforced Concrete

Wharf

FOR THE

HONGKONG & KOWLOON

WHARF & GODOWN CO., LTD.

DESIGNED BY

MR S. E FABER, AFC, CHARTERED CIVIL ENGINEER.

GENERAL CONTRACTORS

MARSMAN HONGKONG CHINA LTD

Commencing the driving of one of the raking piles after maximum penetration under its own weight has been reached.

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A new reinforced concrete Wharf is now under construc- tion for the Hongkong & Kowloon Wharf & Godown Co., Ltd.. to replace the old timber decked wharf which rested on 12 X 15" R.S. "H" Piles and Beams and was demolished at the end of 1947 to make way for the new construction and also to provide Steel Piles for the reconstruction of the Wharf Company's "Sayingpoon" jetty.

Originally the site of the R.C.C. Wharf carried a timber jetty constructed in 1886 when the H.K. & Kowloon Wharf & Godown Co. was incorporated. This jetty incidentally was one of the oldest in the Colony, and has been re-built, lengthened & strengthened on a number of occasions, notably in 1908-after partial destruction of the jetty during the severe typhoon of 1906 and again in 1921 when it was lengthened to 660 feet with steel piles, steel girders and a timber deck.

It was known as No. 1 Wharf until 1928 when all the wharves were re-numbered and since when the site became known as No. 4 Wharf.

During the occupation of the Colony by the Japanese, the latter started the demolition of the Timber Decking in May & June 1945 as a military measure meant to impede the unloading of supplies in case of re-occupation by Allied Forces. The Wharf was partially re-decked with timber during the Military Administration to allow its use for troop movement, although even at that time it was found to be beyond reasonable repair. Therefore when the Wharf Co. decided to rehabilitate their Sayingpoon Wharf on Hongkong it was found that the steel piles in the structure of old No. 4 Wharf could to advantage be re-used in the reconstruction of the above jetty and demolition of the No. 4 Wharf and clear- ing of the site was then undertaken.

The design of the new Wharf is similar to the No. 3 R.C.C. Wharf designed by and built under the supervision of Mr. S. E. Faber, A.F.C, Chartered Civil Engineer during the second half of 1939 and in 1940. This No. 3 R.C.C. Wharf has shown most excellent wearing qualities particularly when taking into account that throughout the Japanese occupation it received not even routine maintenance and in fact was made the ubject of Japanese sabotage attempts with-thanks to its rugged and sturdy design-minor local effect only.

The new wharf which will project 700'0" out from the Praya, embodies in its construction the use of a total of 397 R.C.C. Piles 18" X 18", of which 292 Nos. are Raking Piles designed to resist the shock of berthing of ships up to 18- 20000 tons. In order to provide the necessary flexibility and thereby prevent damage to berthing ships in rip or heavy cross tides, the design of the wharf incorporates specially made heavy Helical Steel Springs which in sets of 3 Nos. are encased in Cast Steel inner and outer casings, the latter built into the Edge Girders behind the "Yacal" Fendering. These springs

Pre-cast piles stored ready for driving.

are spaced in sets of 2 (1 upper & 1 lower) every seven feet along the R.C.C. Edge Girder and they allow the "Yacal" Wood Fendering bolted thereto by means of "guided" splice plates, a horizontal travel up to 12" to soften the shock of a ship berthing. The calculated spring tension on each pile is 91 tons and on each spring 12 tons, with a total of 354 sets of Springs built into the Edge Girders and dolphin end of the Wharf.

In the original design of the wharf. and in the contract specification, it was assumed that the construction could proceed with a provision of 292 Nos. 75'0" long inner and outer Raking Piles and 100 Nos. X 70'0" long Vertical outer Piles under the R.C.C. Edge Girders, the inner Raking Piles having a batter angle of 4 in 12 while the outer Raking Piles have a batter of 2.53 in 12. Test Boring made and Test Piles driven prior to the start of the works showed, however, that at the dolphin end of the wharf the harbour bottom consist to a considerable depth of soft mud. As a result of these tests it was found necessary to use Piles up to a total length of 90'0" at the outer end of the Wharf, while at the Praya end where stiff clay was met with at shallower depths, Piles could appreciably be shortened. Schedule on Page 22 hereunder shows the finalized Pile lengths schedule set up by Mr. Faber, in order to meet the variations in the consistency of the harbour bottom in the most economical manner. In

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Design of the steel reinforcements for the piles.

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