The lost hills of Singapore

VOLUME

2012

Essays

The Land Archive and Zhao Renhui

DOI: 10.33671/ISS01LAN

Photographs from the archives of the Institution of Singapore Civil Engineers

The lost hills of Singapore
Presented by The Land Archive and Zhao Renhui

Land reclamation in Singapore started in the 19th century. Initially, soil excavated from inland hills and sand dredged from surrounding seabeds were used to reclaim the sea. Singapore gorged its hills and ridges to reclaim land. Fill material was evacuated from Bedok, Siglap, Tampines and Jurong. Most hills were flattened during the Telok Ayer Reclamation from 1879 to 1887, and the East Coast Reclamation of 1418 hectares from 1961 to 1985. By the mid-1980s, the hill-cut soil and localdredged sand suitable for reclamation became almost exhausted and reclamation contractors started to import sand from neighboring countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.