Praya Reclamation Scheme
The Praya Reclamation Scheme (Chinese: 海旁填海計劃) was a large scale land reclamation project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in 19th Century Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick.
Early proposal[edit]
The project was first proposed in 1855 but many merchants with private piers on the waterfront objected to the scheme.[1]
The first reclamation project eventually began in 1868 and was completed in 1873. It added significant land to Praya Central, which later became present-day Des Voeux Road.[1]
Second reclamation scheme[edit]
The second project was revived by the Tai-pan of The Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company in July 1887.[2] It did not commence until February 1890,[1] and as it was significantly larger than the first, the completion was between 1903 and 1904.[1][2] There were discrepancies in the number of acres actually gained from the entire project: some sources claimed it added 59 acres (240,000 m2) of land to Hong Kong's Central waterfront and Statue Square,[3] while some indicated that the total area was extended by 65 acres (260,000 m2) using materials with a total weight of 3.5 million tons.[1]