Causeway or bridge? Despite the Causeway being a physical link between Singapore and Malaysia, it is not a bridge! Generally, a causeway refers to a raised road that provides a means of crossing wet ground or a body of water. In this case, the Johor-Singapore Causeway is a raised road that allows goods and people to cross the strait.

Building a bridge across the straits would have posed far greater challenges, not just in terms of engineering challenges but also the potentially high costs of steel and maintenance.¹¹ On the other hand, granite rubble was readily available from Singapore - the quarries at Bukit Timah and on Pulau Ubin. Hence, the construction of a rubble causeway was the preferred approach.

There was one downside to building a causeway instead of a bridge though - a causeway would obstruct the passage of watercraft along the Johor Straits. Even during the construction phase, as work commenced on either side of the Causeway, the level of granite deposited became a danger to shipping activity. Special boats were moored on each end to mark the safe zone of passage via a red ship beacon by day, and red lights by night.¹²

At the shallower Johor end of the Causeway, a lock was built to ease boat movements so that smaller vessels could continue to pass through the Straits. The lock was furnished with a double set of floodgates to accommodate the changes in water level and direction of water flow due to the shifting tides. Without the double gates, the difference in water level on either sides of the Causeway would have created a dangerous current, making it unsafe for vessels to navigate. A rolling lift or bascule bridge, running on electricity, carried railway and roadway traffic over the lock.¹³

Click here to explore another aspect of the Causeway's beginnings, or here to return to the main Causeway Centenary page.

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