Did you know? Most of the 1.15 million cubic metres of granite rubble used to build the Causeway came from the quarries on the island of Pulau Ubin.

Pulau Ubin's original name in Malay, Pulau Batu Jubin, means "Granite Stone Island".¹⁹ Its quarries supplied granite for the building of many early roads and buildings on the main island of Singapore, including the Istana which was completed in 1869. The last granite quarry on Pualu Ubin closed in 1999.²⁰

Before construction started on the Causeway, granite from Pulau Ubin had been used for extensive works at the Singapore Harbour. The company in charge of the harbour works, Messrs Topham, Jones & Railton Ltd. of London, were later awarded the contract to build the Causeway.²¹

To construct the Causeway, the granite rubble from Pulau Ubin had to be transported on hopper barges, which were vessels with bottoms that could open. These barges were towed by tugboats to the construction site and moored into place, before their cargo was deposited directly into the water.²²

Although work on the Causeway commenced in 1919, the quarries on Pulau Ubin had to first be developed to support this major undertaking. As a result, the maximum output of granite from the island was not attained until 1921.²³ In February 1922, additional granite supplies started coming in from the 7th mile quarry at Bukit Timah, and by the end of the year, over 38,000 cubic metres of granite rubble were being deposited every month at the Causeway site.²⁴

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

Photographs