Mid-60s pile driver near Tamar [c.1964-c.1966] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Mid-60s pile driver near Tamar [c.1964-c.1966]

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Submitted by David on Mon, 2016-11-21 12:37
Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
c.1964-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)
Date Place demolished: 
c.1966-12-31 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)

Marker position is approximate.

Does anyone know what this was? Now identified as a pile driver.

Phil spotted it first:

I'm going to up the ante and show you this picture from the 1965 French film "Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine". Is that the Naval dockyard chimney in the background?  If so, then you need to set the demolition date a bit later. The film was released in 1965 but I'mnot sure when it was shot - possibly 1964 or 1965.

Hong Kong Cricket Club

Hong Kong Cricket Club, by Philk

I thought it was the Naval Dockyard's chimney too, but Herostratus says it's different:

I think it is a different chimney to the original. For whatever reason they temporarily re-erected a chimney near to the original for a few years, perhaps to burn waste as they demolished the rest of the barracks

This 1963 Picture - no chimney of any sort. The aerial photos from February of that year also show no chimney.

This 1965 Picture a chimney exists once again. 

I have multiple other photos that confirm no chimney after 1960 with another appearing the middle of the 1960s. It cant have lasted more than a couple of years at that site became the junction of Harcourt Road and Cotton Tree Drive

Looking again I agree they're different. The later structure was thinner, and in a slightly different location. Can anyone confirm what it was used for?

Tags: 
pile driver
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Comments

Submitted by philk on Wed, 2016-11-23 12:15.

Yes, a nice find.. after looking at the pictures the later chimney seems smaller. I guess it would've been fabricated from metal? But now I'm curious about its purpose...temporary incinerator or perhaps some some of smelter? Would the height have been dictated by regulations covering roadside emissions or perhaps it was involved in some particularly toxic process? I'm just wondering why a temporary chimney would need to be that high...

Submitted by Herostratus on Wed, 2016-11-23 13:06.

Looking at the 1965 photo again the 'chimney' is right in the middle of the road where the Harcourt Road flyover was built. I wonder if the chimney is actually a machine for driving piles into the ground for the foundations. Modern machines for that purpose look similar.

Te other possibility is that the whole area got tarmaced for carparks in the mid/late 60's so the chimney could be used in the production of tarmac. However its location seems to suggest foundation work fro the flyover. 

Submitted by moddsey on Wed, 2016-11-23 14:20.

Looks like a pile driver.

Submitted by philk on Fri, 2016-11-25 13:12.

this makes more sense. are there any pictures to compare to see if it was moved around?

Submitted by Klaus on Sun, 2018-11-18 18:53.

On a photo from the mid 1960's, a vertical structure can be seen near the Tidal Pool on Harcourt Road. It looks as if it's a rig with a frame below it. 

1965_tidal pool
1965_tidal pool, by David

The sheds near the water look very similar to the ones of Phil's photo. So my vote is for pile driver.

Submitted by Klaus on Wed, 2021-10-06 23:31.

Think the pile driver on the left photo is the same type as seen on Phil's photo from 1965.

1975年和2005年的尖沙咀 Tsim Sha Tsui in 1975 and 2005
1975年和2005年的尖沙咀 Tsim Sha Tsui in 1975 and 2005, by richardwonghkbook4

Submitted by Admin on Wed, 2021-10-13 16:31.

I've updated the title from the original "Mid-60s tower / chimney near Tamar".