TNAG-0273-FCO40-309-Scheme-for-development-of-container-terminal-at-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 40

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It is proposed that where possible, the area under the future overhead railway should be used as covered storage, lorry-waiting etc. In order to make best use of the area, one packing shed is shown as sited close to the railway with the intention that the lorry-loading bays should be under it. This shed would come within the 70-ft. reserve described in paragraph 5.44 and special approval for this would have to be sought when more details of the building are known.

If straddle carriers are used for transporting containers between the marshalling areas and the packing stations sited behind the overhead railway, a ramped underpass would be needed, as shown on Drawing 17, since the carriers would be up to 30-ft. high and there would only about 19-ft. headroom under the overhead railway. This underpass would only be needed, however, when and if this branch of the railway is constructed; as noted in paragraph 5.46, the need for this branch is at present under consideration.

The site for the desalination plant shown on Drawing 17 provides 10 acres of land and its shape has been agreed provisionally by Messrs. Binnie & Partners as acceptable. It would be bounded on the north by the approach road to the proposed Tsing Yi bridge and would require the levelling of part of Tsing Chau.

The reasons for the irregular shape of the desalination-plant site are the necessity to site Berth 1 of the Container Terminal for the easiest construction of the first phase of Stage 1 and the necessity to provide three 850-ft. berths for Stages 1 and 2 at the minimum of cost. If a decision is made not to construct a desalination plant at Kwai Chung, lighter berths could be constructed to the required extent on the alternative line shown on Drawing 17.

The alignment of Berth No. 4 and adjacent reclamation could be varied in several ways, e.g. as shown on Drawing 17. The actual layout would depend on requirements for mar- shalling area, packing stations, lighter, vehicle-ferry and possible feeder-ship berths. The northern boundary of the Terminal site shown on Drawing 17 was originally defined by the line of the proposed road from the future Tsing Yi bridge to a junction with Kwai Chung Road at the north-east corner of the site. This road line was approximately as shown in the Long Term Road Study Report, but subsequent considerations on the relative construction timings of this road and the proposed Tsuen Wan By-pass, which is planned to join Kwai Chung Road at the same point, have led to the revised line shown on Drawing 17.

This re-alignment removes one of the original limitations to the extent of the Terminal site and thus if more land were required without more berths, expansion in that direction would be possible with good access to the rest of the Terminal. This would be in accordance with the existing zoning of this area for industrial use but would be subject to a decision on whether or not further industrial land should be used for the Container Terminal.

On the other hand if more berths were required, expansion to the south of Berth No. 4 should be feasible, subject to further engineering study. It is recommended therefore that before other arrangements are made for disposal of these areas of land and seabed, con- sideration should be given to the need to reserve them for further container facilities.

Quay Structure

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In Chapter 7 the six types of quay structure considered for containership berths were described and orders of cost given. For the construction of a berth adjacent to Mong Chau, a piled concrete structure backed by a concrete-block seawall is recommended because:-

(a) There is very little depth of mud on the proposed alignment of the seawall, so its

settlement should be negligible.

(b) This type of seawall is quick and comparatively cheap to build.

(c) The piled concrete structure should be easy to construct quickly and would provide

good support for the crane rail without likelihood of differential settlement.

(d) Only a small amount of dredging for foundations is required.

Details of the design proposed for this length of quaywall are shown on Drawing 18. The piled structure comprises a concrete deck 73-ft. wide supported on prestressed- concrete hollow cylindrical piles of 42-in. diameter and varying from about 70 ft. to 110 ft. in length.

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