TNAG-0426-FCO40-472-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 143

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7.

$10m soil

tests

held up

PROGRESS on one of Hongkong's $10 million soil testing boreholes has had to be stopped because of a missing airlock. On dị

a vitally The airlock, necessat : part on which the sfety of the workers depen, is somewhere on board a ship in the Pacific. It WHIS expected three weeks ago, but the ship has been delayed.

arc

a

All four test bores, which

fing canied out as feasibility study for the mass undervround transit system, are facing difficulties because of the mature of the soil and rock. But at the Admiralty site in Harcot Road where water has turned 12 ground into quicksand boring has stopped completely.

Compressed air will keep the site workable, but its use forrus a health hazard for the workers, Compressed air causes an accumulation of nitrogen in the Moodstream owing to a rapid reduction in pressure and the workers could suffer from the deepsea divers' complaint, "the bends."

There are two decompression chambers on the site, which would help in emergencies, but without the airlock workers would be exposed to unnecessary risks so work to extend the bore hole from 54 feet to its ultimate depth of 75 feet has been stopped until the airlock

arrives.

The four test bores are being sunk at Harcourt Road, Tsimshatslui, Laichikok, and Lokfu to get more information: On the geological formations. This data is necessary to plan for the construction of the underground system.

The bores also help to gauge the ability of Hongkong to provide the necessary skilled

i

www.d

by

Chris Kershaw

men and equipment needed to dig the tunnels.

spokesman for the engineers handling the boring, Scott Wilson, Kirkpatrick and Partners, said that the skill and quality of Hongkong's labourers was impressive but although the Colony could provide much of the needed equipment it could not supply it in the quantity required.

Knowledge gained from the test bores will be used to decide the cost-effective technique to use in any specific tunnelling operation.

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