The primary rock at the site belongs to the Ap Lei Chau Formation, which is identified as crystal-bearing fine ash vitric tuff and eutaxitic fine ash vitric tuff, which is a type of volcanic rock.
Site preparation for the power station, which was begun in the 1960s by UK civil engineers George Wimpey & Co., required the flattening of the area to create a working platform on which to construct the buildings and infrastructure, a task that involved large amounts of explosive blasting as the rock proved to be extremely tough and hard to break-up.
Lunchtime at the power station site for contractors based in numerous temporary buildings/huts scattered outside the main building necessitated listening out for the explosives teams hand struck ‘Gongs’, the sound of which increased in tempo as the explosive’s ignition approached.
By then, everyone had retreated into their company’s site huts. Depending on the blasting location, rocks of various sizes would come showering down noisily onto their roofs. On occasions, they would burst through to the chagrin of those inside, the more cautious of whom had taken to wearing their construction site hard-hats while eating their sandwiches.
The contractors' site huts can be discerned to the left of this image's main building.
Comments
Re: Ap Lei Chau power statin
Hi There,
Likely it was the late 1960's as there is only one chimney.
T
1968 to 1970
Agree with Thomas about the date which should be 1968 to 1970 (or 1971). Compare this similar photo from 1968:
Ap Lei Chau power station working platform
The primary rock at the site belongs to the Ap Lei Chau Formation, which is identified as crystal-bearing fine ash vitric tuff and eutaxitic fine ash vitric tuff, which is a type of volcanic rock.
Site preparation for the power station, which was begun in the 1960s by UK civil engineers George Wimpey & Co., required the flattening of the area to create a working platform on which to construct the buildings and infrastructure, a task that involved large amounts of explosive blasting as the rock proved to be extremely tough and hard to break-up.
Lunchtime at the power station site for contractors based in numerous temporary buildings/huts scattered outside the main building necessitated listening out for the explosives teams hand struck ‘Gongs’, the sound of which increased in tempo as the explosive’s ignition approached.
By then, everyone had retreated into their company’s site huts. Depending on the blasting location, rocks of various sizes would come showering down noisily onto their roofs. On occasions, they would burst through to the chagrin of those inside, the more cautious of whom had taken to wearing their construction site hard-hats while eating their sandwiches.
The contractors' site huts can be discerned to the left of this image's main building.
Re: Ap Lei Chau power station working platform
IDJ, this is a vivid description of what happened during the construction. I think this can be seen more clearly in the photo below: