Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Public Works
PUBLIC WORKS.
By the Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, C.M.G., Director of Public Works.
N the first year of the Colony's foundation a land officer was appointed to administer Crown lands, collect the revenue derivable from them, and discharge the functions now performed by the Director of Public Works. The officer to whom these numerous responsibilities were entrusted was very frequently changed during the first year or two. On January 3, 1843, Mr. A. T. Gordon was gazetted Surveyor-General, but this was merely a change of title, for his duties were the same as those of his predecessors. The Land Office was established as an independent department in January, 1883. The title of Surveyor-General continued in use until 1892, when it was changed to that of Director of Public Works.
Roads.—Roads, of course, were among the earliest works undertaken for the development of the Colony, and, according to the records available, the first road to be constructed was one from Wongneichung to Shaukiwan, which was made in the year that the Colony was taken over, namely 1841. That was followed by roads from Shaukiwan to Tytam in 1845, from Victoria to Aberdeen in 1846, and from Aberdeen to Stanley in 1848. The system has gradually developed, until now there are on the island of Hongkong 95 miles of roads. Of those inside the city 5 miles are roads of 75 feet in width. Similarly in Kowloon, road-making was commenced soon after the territory was acquired, the first sections of Robinson and Macdonnell Roads being constructed in 1865, five years after the Peninsula was taken over. A halt seems to have been called for some considerable period after this, and it was not until about 1892 that any extensive construction of roads was undertaken in Kowloon. Since then, road-making has been actively pursued, and a system of main roads, 100 feet wide, is now under construction. The roads in Kowloon at the present time aggregate 22 miles in length, of which 3 miles are 100 feet wide. In the new territories, the road to Taipo was the first to be made. It is 16 miles in length, and was completed in 1904. The only other properly made road is one past Kowloon City, leading in the direction of Customs Pass, the construction of which has been undertaken partly on military grounds. All the others are native paths of a very rudimentary description, suitable only for pedestrian traffic, and not well adapted for that as a rule.
Owing to the hilly nature of Hongkong and its dependencies, many of the roads are steep, some of the earlier ones being excessively so in parts. Portions of the roads to Victoria Gap, Wanchai Gap, and Wongneichung Gap have gradients of 1 in 4, 1 in 3¼, and 1 in 3½ respectively. In the case of many streets, steps have had to be introduced. One street in the city of Victoria is appropriately named Ladder Street, being formed of a series of flights of stairs with short landings between. To obviate, as far as possible, damage by rainstorms, which cause rapid erosion of the decomposed granite surfacing in the case of roads having any considerable gradient, concrete is extensively used as a surfacing material and is found to wear well, there being no heavy traffic on such roads and no frosts to attack and break it up.
Buildings.—Of the Government buildings constructed in the early days of the Colony, very few remain, nearly all of them having become inadequate to meet the requirements of more recent times. The exceptions are the Government Offices and the Supreme Court, erected in 1848, and Government House, built in 1856. The Supreme Court will shortly be transferred to a new building. Government House has undergone extension by the addition of a ballroom, which was built in 1892, and the retention of the Government Offices has only been rendered possible by the transfer of several of the departments which were at first housed in them to buildings elsewhere. The new Law Courts and another large building to accommodate the Post Office, Treasury, and several other important Government departments, are in course of erection at the present time and are estimated to cost $768,000 and $930,000 respectively. Among other buildings of importance and comparatively recent construction are the Central and Western markets, the cattle depots, and the slaughter-houses, all of which are extensive and up-to-date in their accommodation. The city cattle depôt is capable of containing over twelve hundred head of cattle. The requirements of education were not overlooked, as in 1861 the Central School was erected to accommodate six hundred scholars. This has since given place to what is now known as Queen's College, originally designed to accommodate 924 scholars, but rendered capable, by making use of the large hall for class-rooms, of accommodating no fewer than fourteen hundred, the number on the rolls according to the most recent report. There are numerous other Government schools in the Colony, several of which are undergoing extension at the present time.
Reclamations.—Owing to the scarcity of level land, the necessity for reclamation soon forced itself upon the attention of the Government, and we find that in 1851, or only ten ears after the occupation of Hongkong, the first scheme of this nature was undertaken, being followed by numerous subsequent schemes. In 1868, 8½ acres were reclaimed between Wilmer Street and Bonham Strand West; in 1873 the East Praya was partly constructed; in 1884, 23 acres were reclaimed from Causeway Bay, and in 1886, 22 acres at Kennedy Town. The largest scheme carried out, however, was that sanctioned by the Praya Reclamation Ordinance of 1889, under which a sea-wall 2 miles in length was constructed, and a gross area of 65 acres reclaimed from the sea, the scheme being completed in 1903. There can be no question as to the expediency of carrying out this work, because practically every foot of land was covered with buildings almost as soon as it became available. Another scheme of even greater magnitude as regards the area to be reclaimed was under the consideration of the Government and the lot-holders concerned for some time, but has been allowed to drop. It provides for a reclamation extending from East Point to Arsenal Street, where it will join the Naval Yard Extension, and comprising an area of nearly 84 acres of building land, exclusive of roads. On the Kowloon side much work of a similar nature has been carried out, but, with the exception of the reclamation in Hunghom Bay to form the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, it has been the result of private enterprise, no general scheme having been undertaken by the Government.
Whilst dealing with marine work it may be interesting to record that in 1883 a breakwater was constructed at Causeway Bay to afford a harbour of refuge for small craft during typhoons. The sheltered area is about 60 acres in extent. A scheme is now under consideration, and there is promise of its being undertaken at an early date, for the construction of a much larger harbour of a similar nature off the west side of the Kowloon Peninsula. This, when completed, will afford a sheltered area of 160 acres.
Drainage and Sewerage.—With the carrying out of reclamations and the gradual advance of the city up the slope of the hills, at the base of which it is situated, it became necessary to regulate the discharge of the torrential rains which frequently occur in Hongkong. This was done by a system of large masonry channels—some open and some covered in—and for a considerable period, in addition to performing the purpose for which they were constructed, these channels were turned to account as a means of getting rid of the sullage water from the houses. This state of affairs could evidently not be permitted to go on indefinitely, as the channels were obviously unsuitable for the conveyance of foul liquids, especially during the dry season of the year, when the absence of rainfall caused the nullahs to be practically dry. Consequently, in 1888 an extensive scheme was prepared for the construction of what is now known as the "separate system." This consisted of the laying of stoneware pipes of comparatively small diameter for the reception of foul water, though, of course, rain-water cannot be entirely excluded from them. The work, which extended throughout the whole area of the city, was completed about the year 1895. The sewage is discharged into the waters of the harbour at various points along the city front, generally into deep water, where it is dispersed by the tidal currents, which are of considerable strength. With the continued progress of buildings upwards on the higher levels of the city, the regulation of the various streams was a matter of necessity, to enable the sites which were cut in the hillsides to be properly laid out, and roads giving access to them to be formed, and many channels were constructed with these objects. More recently, however, the importance of training the streams as a preventative of malaria has been recognised, and during the past six years very extensive works have been carried out for this purpose alone.
Waterworks.—Prior to the year 1860, the city of Victoria was entirely dependent for its supply of water on wells sunk in the compounds throughout the city and on the streams flowing down the slopes of the range of hills at the base of which the city is situated. These sources, besides being of a precarious nature, very soon proved inadequate, and in the year already mentioned steps were taken to supplement them by intercepting the waters of a stream on the opposite, or southern, side of the range and bringing them into the city in cast-iron pipes. The works, as carried out, comprised a small dam in the Pokfolum Valley impounding 2,000,000 gallons, a cast-iron main 10 inches in diameter and 3¼ miles in length, two tanks or service reservoirs above the city of a combined capacity of fully 1,000,000 gallons, and a number of fountains and fire-cocks. They were completed in 1863, but were speedily found insufficient to meet requirements, and in 1866 the construction of a dam in the Pokfolum Valley with a capacity of 66,000,000 gallons was undertaken. This was completed in 1871.
With the growth of the city which, perforce, continued upwards owing to the flat area at the base of the hills being soon covered, a difficulty arose in supplying water to the buildings on the higher levels. To overcome this, a conduit was constructed from the outlet of the Pokfolum reservoir contouring the hills at a height of about 500 feet above sea-level and terminating at a point above the central part of the city. It was 3⅓ miles long and had a discharging capacity of nearly 1,750,000 gallons per day. The original cast-iron main which was thus superseded was taken up on completion of the work, which occurred in 1877.
The growth of the population and the increasing demand for water for industrial purposes soon rendered it necessary to augment the supply, and in 1883 the Tytam scheme was undertaken. The works comprised under it were, relatively to the Pokfolum works, of great magnitude. They included a storage reservoir with a capacity of 312,000,000 gallons, a tunnel and aqueduct, 1·38 and 2·93 miles in length respectively, for conveying the water to the city, a series of filter-beds and a service reservoir capable of containing nearly 5,750,000 gallons. The cost of these works amounted to $1,257,500, and they were completed in 1889.
To place the Pokfolum supply on an equal footing with that derived from Tytam, filter-beds and a service reservoir (capacity 941,000 gallons) were next constructed, and attention was then turned to the question of distributing the greatly augmented supply throughout the city. For this purpose fully 20 miles of cast-iron mains, varying from 14 inches to 3 inches in diameter, were laid during the years 1890–92; a system of hydrants being provided at the same time for fire-extinction purposes. Owing to the great variation in the levels of the city, which extended from sea-level to about 500 feet above it, the distribution system was divided into three zones, the excess pressure of the supply for the lowest zone being utilized for pumping water to the highest zone, whilst the middle zone was supplied direct from the service reservoirs. About the same time as the distribution works just described were being carried out, a scheme for extending the supply of water to the Hill District, which ranges from about 900 to 1,800 feet above sea-level, was undertaken. The scheme included the provision of a pumping engine, a rising main of heavy wrought-iron piping, nearly a mile in length, 5⅓ miles of distributing mains, and a series of tanks for controlling the pressure and ensuring uniformity of supply. On the completion of the distributing system in the city the wells were closed, as they were all more or less contaminated or liable to contamination.
Notwithstanding the large Tytam works, the supply still proved to be inadequate, and in 1895 the raising of Tytam dam for a further height of 12½ feet was proceeded with. This increased the capacity of the reservoir to 385,000,000 gallons. Subsequent additions to the works include storage reservoirs at Wongneichung Gap (1899), and below the overflow of Tytam reservoir (1904) with capacities of 30,000,000 and 22,000,000 gallons respectively; the construction of nearly 5 miles of catchwaters; additional filter-beds and, finally, a low-level storage reservoir (1907) in the Tytam Valley, with a capacity of 196,000,000 gallons. To render the supply from the last-mentioned source available, pumping engines capable of raising 2,500,000 gallons per day have been installed, and 3¼ miles of 18-inch cast-iron mains have been laid. The combined capacity of all the existing storage reservoirs is 699,000,000 gallons, but, by the insertion of sluice boards on the overflow weirs, this is increased to 747,000,000 gallons.
A scheme for the construction of another low-level reservoir to contain 1,200,000,000 gallons has been prepared but has not yet been undertaken. A large increase in the pumping plant will be necessary in connection with this scheme and the rising main will have to be duplicated.
The frequent occurrence of periods of scarcity, owing to severe droughts, has rendered it necessary to adopt some means of economising the consumption of water. The means adopted has been the laying, throughout the Chinese quarters of the city, of what are known as rider mains, with which all house services are connected. These are subsidiary mains controlled by valves, by means of which the supply of water to the houses can be temporarily discontinued without rendering it necessary to obstruct the flow in the principal mains, with which the fire hydrants are connected. The supplies to all European houses, which are connected with the principal mains, are metered.
The only supply obtainable by the inhabitants of Kowloon up to the end of 1895 was from wells, many of which were privately owned. In that year, a supply derived from springs in some of the larger valleys in British Kowloon was rendered available by pumping, the necessary engines, mains, service reservoirs, &c., having been installed. The quantity obtained from this source was about a quarter of a million gallons a day, which sufficed for a period to meet the needs of the inhabitants, but, by the lime the new territories were acquired (1898), an increased supply had become a matter of urgent necessity. Works were therefore undertaken at the earliest possible opportunity for intercepting the waters of some streams on the Kowloon range of hills, thus rendering available an additional supply of 100,000 gallons per day which was laid on in 1900. It was, however, recognised that substantial works, including a storage reservoir of considerable capacity, must be undertaken, and a scheme, which is now (1908) nearing completion, was put in hand in 1902. It includes a storage reservoir (capacity 350,000,000 gallons); a large catchwater, 2 miles in length, to supplement the natural catchment area; filter beds; a large covered service reservoir; 4 miles of main, 18 inches and 12 inches in diameter; and numerous subsidiary mains for distribution purposes.
Public Lighting.—In 1857 the lighting of the streets in the city by oil lamps was undertaken, but this gave way in 1865 to gas lighting, a private company for the manufacture and supply of gas having been formed and entrusted by the Government with the public lighting. In 1890 a considerable section of the city was illuminated by electric arc lamps, but from the fact that no extension of this system has ever been carried out it may be concluded that the gas lighting, which has been altered to the incandescent system throughout, is regarded as the more suitable form of illumination. In Kowloon, no lighting of any kind existed prior to 1892, when the Gas Company extended its operations to the other side of the harbour and laid down a small gas works, enabling the lighting of the peninsula to be carried out. A comparatively short length of road has since been lighted by electric incandescent lamps, a company having been established for the supply of electricity to consumers generally. The lighting of the roads in the Hill District by means of incandescent gas lamps was carried out in 1905.
Lighthouses.—The importance of lighting the approaches to the harbour seems only to have been recognised in comparatively recent years. In 1875 the first of the lighthouses, containing a first-order light, was completed at Cape D'Aguilar, and this was followed a few months later by another on Green Island containing a fourth-order light. In 1876 a sixth-order light was established on Cape Collinson, but the more outlying approaches remained unlighted until 1892, when a first-order light was displayed on Gap Rock, a similar light being established on Waglan Island in 1893. In the case of the Gap Rock light permission had to be obtained from the Chinese Government to construct the lighthouse, which is situated on a small island some 30 miles to the south of the Colony, and as regards Waglan light, arrangements had also to be made with the same authorities whereby the one on Waglan Island was ct>nstiucted by ths Imperial Maritime Customs Department. The latter only passed into the possession of the British Government in 1900, shortly after the New Territory was taken over. The opening of the lighthouse on Waglan Island did away with the necessity of maintaining the one on C-jpe D"Aguilar, and the light in the latter was accordingly dismantled and has recently been substituted for the one on Green Island. Similarly the light from Green Island has been fitted up in lieu of the one on Cape Collinson, and it is now proposed to erect the old Cape Collinson light on what is knotvn as Blackhead's Hill, or Kowloon Point. Traawajrs. — The first tramway constructed in Hongkong was one to afford access to the high levels known as the Peak or Hill District. This line, approximately a mile in length, ascends to a height of about 1,300 feet alx>ve sea-level, and was opened in l888. Under the Ordinance which authorijed its construction powers were conferred for the laying of tramways in some of the principal thoroughfares of the city, but these powers were never exercised, and it was not until 1903 that a new Ordinance was passed authorising the construction by a private company of a system of electric tramways, extending from the extreme western district of the city, known as Kennedy Town, to Shaukiwan, a distance of gi miles. This scheme was promptly carried out, and in igo4 the system was opened for public traffic. It is, perhaps, a matter for congratu- lation that the scheme was deferred, for had it been constructed at an earlier date the lines must have traversed very narrow road- ways, whereas the completion of the big reclamation scheme to which reference has already been made, and the widening of Queen's Road from Arsenal Street to the City Hall by the Naval Authorities, have rendered available fine wide streets. The construction, by private enterprise, of a second tramway to the Peak District has been before the Legislature and will probably be commenced in the near future. Railway. — Following closely upon the intro- duction of tramways came the proposal for constructing a railway from Kowloon to Canton, the survey for which vyas undertaken in 1905; and, as described elsewhere in these pages, the work of construction is in progress. This work is being executed independently of the Public Works Depart- ment. Telepbones and Telegraphs. — A Govern- ment telephone system confined to the use of the Police, the Waterworks, the Govern- ment Offices, and the residences of the principal Government officials, has been established, and there are cables communi- cating with Gap Rock and Waglan light- houses, from which points the passing of vessels is signalled. All arrangements con- nected with the latter service are conducted at the Harbour Office, where the various lines arc concentrated. Coatrol aad Sapervigion of Building Opera- tioa* geaerally.— Up to 1889 but little jurisdiction was exercised by the Govern- ment with regard to the construction of buildings of a private character in the Colony. An "Ordinance for Buildings and Nuisances" was passed as early as 1856, but its provisions were of a very primary description. In 1889, however, an Ordinance dealing in very considerable detail with the construction of buildings generally was passed, but such important matters as the regulation of the height of buildings, and the provision of adequate back-yards or open spaces were omitted from it. Subse- quent Ordinances remedied these omissions to some extent, but it was not until 1903, when the existing Ordinance became law, that the matter was thoroughly gone into and remedied. This Ordinance was the out- come of the visit of Professor Simpson and Mr. Osbert Chadwick to inspect and report upon the condition of the Colony from a sanitary point of view. It may be mentioned incidentally that as early as 1882 Mr. Chadwick had reported on the sanitary condition of Hongkong, but no adequate action appears to have been taken on his report. Hongkong has gained a somewhat unenviable reputation in the matter of collapses of buildings, in some cases attended by serious loss of life, but with the gradual reconstruction of the city which must come in the ordinary course of events, this reproach will disappear, the require- ments of the present Ordinance as regards the thickness of walls and other points affecting their stability being much more stringent than the old. Crown Lands. — The whole of the lands in the Colony belong to the Crown, and the supervision of them is vested in the Surveyor- General or Director of Public Works, as that officer is now designated. In the case of Kowloon, leases of considerable areas were granted to those inhabitants who were in occupation at the time of its cession to the British and were able to establish a satis- factory title to the land, and a similar course has been followed in the case of all the petty holdings of the villagers throughout the Colony. The latter were not systematically dealt with, however, until after the passing of the Squatters' Ordinance in 1890. Except in special cases, the disposal of Crown land is almost invariably effected by public auction, the conditions of sale being notified before- hand in the Government Gazette and the terms, briefly stated, advertised in the news- papers. To prevent, as far as possible, mere speculative buying of lands, a building cove- nant is included in the conditions of sale, and it is only on the fulfilment of this that the Crown lease is issued. All Crown leases reserve a power of entry, for purposes of inspection, to the Surveyor of His Majesty the King, who is the Director of Public Works. In the early days of the Colony, the leases granted were for periods of 75 years, but this policy was altered some years later, so far as the city of Victoria was concerned, and leases were thereafter granted for periods of 999 years. To put the earlier leases on an equal footing, it was notified in 1849 that leases granted prior thereto for a period of 75 years would be extended on application for a further term of 924 years. Outside the city of Victoria and Kowloon, except in a few $ c. I3.S,3'8
,824
,222
,315
,361
.165
,098
,259
,733
,750
cases, all leases issued were for a period of 75 years. Matters rem.iined on this footing until 1899, when the Secretary of State for the Colonies directed that in future all leases, irrespective of the situation of the lands con- veyed by them, should be for a term of 75 years, renewable, subject to revision of the Crown rent, for one further term of the same duration. The revenue derived from land sales is very variable, as will be seen from the following statement of the amounts received during the past ten years; —
In 1890, the rent derived from leased lands
amounted to $180,170-86, and in 1907 it
had increased to S371, 167-80, or more than
double, which may be regarded as satisfactory
evidence of the prosperity and development
of the Colony.
There are numerous other matters which
come within the scope of the Public Works
Department, besides those to which reference
has been made, such as the care of the various
public recreation grounds, the Colonial Ceme-
tery, and the construction of piers, but
enough has been said to show how extensive
its ramifications are.
THE DIRECTOR OP PUBLIC WORKS.— A
biographical sketch of the Hon. Mr. W.
Chatham, C.M.G., appears under the heading
" Executive and Legislative Councils."
MR. PATRICK NICHOLAS HILL JONES,
Assistant Director of Public Works, was for
several years in Trinidad, first in connection
with the construction of district waterworks
(loan), and afterwards as engineer in charge
of the water and drainage works of the Colony,
before he arrived in Hongkong, in 1903, to
take up his present appointment. He was
born in 1864, and commenced his technical
education at King's College, London. After
serving a five years' pupilage to a civil
engineer he was appointed Resident Engineer
to the Barbadoes Water Supply Company, and
after six years proceeded to Trinidad, gaining
in the West Indies an experience which
proved invaluable to him in Hongkong.
During the absence of the Hon. Mr. Chatham
on a year's leave, Mr. Jones acted as Director
of Public Works, Member of the Executive
and Legislative Councils, Vice-President of
the Sanitary Board, &c. He is an Associate
Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers,
and a member of the Hongkong, Peak, and
Grosvenor (London) Clubs.