Discussion. Investigation and Design of the Plover Cove Water Scheme.

Abstract

, had visited this great and imaginative project. He welcomed, therefore, the opportunity of congratulating the Authors and their firms and of thanking them for their great kindness on that extremely interesting visit, when it had been possible to see much of the work in hand.102. The problem of providing enough water for the fast-growing and bustling colony of Hong Kong was a difficult one and every available source had to be tapped.The project which the Authors described was a notable one by any standards. The idea of storing water in what had previously been an area of the sea, the dam itself, which was designed to allow considerable settlements, the huge purpose-built dredger and placer for building the main dam, the auxiliary works, including the neoprene weir (which had been inflated to show how it worked), the 30ft diameter tunnel between the dams and Tqi PO Tau, designed to carry water either way, the water treatment plant near Sha Tin, and the arrangements there to control the whole system when in operation, were splendid examples of what could be done by using the most modern engineering techniques.103. Speaking for the Secretary as well as for himself, he said that their best wishes went to the Authors and their firms for the successful completion of the project, which would be a major achievement in the engineering world.Mr N. A. F. Rowntree (Water Resources Board) said that barrages were a subject of discussion in Great Britain at that time and, since the responsibility for investigating the feasibility of two barrages had been placed on his Board, he was not only interested in the Paper but very pleased to see it presented at the Institution. The Plover Cove scheme had made it clear that works of this size could be carried out by British engineering firms, and the Water Resources Board had shown their confidence by asking British engineering consultants to look at the feasibility studies for which the Board were responsible. 105.Another important feature of the Paper from a public relations point of view was that it indicated the magnitude and complexity of the problems involved in carrying out this type of work. The rather light-hearted way in which requests for a barrage were sometimes made could be embarrassing, and he had been pleased to hear the procedure which had been adopted in Hong Kong. The foundations of the argument were the great need for water, the problem of providing storage for the adequate rainfall of the island, and the difficulty of finding a land location for this storage. To take advantage of the nature of the coastline and provide a barrage, had been a logical sequence of thought.106. After a great deal of consideration it had been decided that if a barrage