ENG-1984 — Page 241

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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

completed on 16 slopes and retaining walls at a cost of $53 million and preventive works commenced at 18 other locations.

Compared with the very heavy rainfall in 1982 and 1983, 1984 was relatively dry and, fortunately, there were no major failures or widespread landslips. Remedial works were completed on some of the previous year's major landslips, notably the failures at Peak Road, Pun Shan Tsuen and Tin Wan Hill Road,

Quarrying

The total consumption of crushed rock aggregates in the territory amounted to approxi- mately 16 million tonnes. Sixty per cent of this total was obtained from six local contract quarries and a further 20 per cent was provided by the two government-operated quarries and a number of rock crushing plants associated with site development works. The remaining 20 per cent was imported from China, and consisted of both coarse aggregates and natural sand.

Land Development

In the urban areas, land formation and reclamation are the responsibility of the Civil Engineering Office of the Engineering Development Department. During the year, 22 hectares of land were reclaimed along the northeastern coast of Hong Kong Island for the Mass Transit Railway Island Line, the Island Eastern Corridor, other roads and general urban development. Public dumping began at Telegraph Bay on the south side of Hong Kong Island to form 20 hectares of land for residential use.

In Kowloon, reclamation continued at Cheung Sha Wan where 4.5 hectares were formed for the construction of a fish market, an abattoir and the Western Kowloon Corridor. To the north of Stonecutters Island, six hectares of land were formed for a sewage treatment plant. On the north shore of Tolo harbour, about 10 hectares of land were formed for an industrial estate and an open public area along the waterfront.

Port Works

The demand for marine facilities continued to increase and work by the Civil Engineering Office of the Engineering Development Department progressed on seawalls, breakwaters and piers at various locations throughout the territory. Six kilometres of seawall and breakwater were completed during the year and eight piers were at various stages of construction and due for completion in 1985–6.

Water Supplies

Full supply was maintained throughout the year. At the beginning of 1984, there were 529 million cubic metres of water in storage, compared with 434 million cubic metres at the start of 1983. Rainfall for the year was 2017 millimetres compared with the average of 2 225 millimetres. Water piped from China during the year totalled 285 million cubic metres. The Lok On Pai desalting plant was not operated and continued to remain as a 'stand-by resource'.

On January 1, 1984, the combined storage of Hong Kong's largest reservoirs, High Island and Plover Cove, was 469 million cubic metres. The salinity of water in High Island remained at about 12 milligrams per litre, while at Plover Cove the salinity varied from 68 milligrams per litre at the beginning of the year to 66 milligrams per litre at the end of the year.

A peak consumption of 1.99 million cubic metres per day was experienced compared with the 1983 peak of 1.90 million cubic metres per day. The average daily consumption