The East Coast Reclamation Scheme was launched in April 1966 and completed 20 years later at the end of 1986. Land reclamation was carried out in an area stretching from Bedok to Tanjong Rhu and utilised a pioneering method that was a first in Southeast Asia[1]. The intention was to ease congestion along East Coast Road, the most congested road in Singapore at the time. Prior to this scheme, a smaller reclamation project had taken place in 1963 to reclaim 19 hectares of land at East Coast Road.
The mammoth scheme, also known as the East Coast Reclamation Project was carried out in seven phases at a total cost of $613 million. It reclaimed a total of 1,525 hectares and its last phase added about 1 kilometer of shoreline. As the government agent for this reclamation scheme, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was responsible for the planning, design and supervision of construction for the project.
The reclaimed land went on to form part of the Bedok planning area. As delineated in 1994 by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), it is bounded by Siglap Canal, Marine Parade Road, Still Road, Jalan Eunos, Eunos Link and Airport Road to the west, the Paya Lebar Airport boundary to the north and the Bedok Canal to the east.
Part of the area was reclaimed during the first phase of the East Coast Reclamation Scheme. Encompassing an area of approximately 2,157 hectares, the Bedok planning area includes sub-zones such as Kaki Bukit, Kembangan, Frankel and Siglap.
Historical background[]
Old Bedok Road in 1930 was a rather narrow country road with little traffic, flanked by coconut trees on both sides. The Simpang Bedok Village, on the other hand, stood on high ground and offered a good view of the Singapore Strait. Its inhabitants were mostly Malay and Chinese fishermen, and the reclamation of Bedok in the 1960s led many of them to turn to other means of earning a living, such as selling cigarettes, food and drinks.
Reclamation methods[]
Fill material used in the reclamation project was obtained through the cutting of hills in Siglap and Tampines. The area was subsequently excavated to form Bedok Reservoir. The cut soil was then transported by belt conveyors all the way to a loading jetty off Bedok, loaded onto barges and dumped directly into the reclaimed area. Bulldozers and dump trucks then spread, graded and compacted the reclaimed land to its final levels.
Use of reclaimed land[]
The reclaimed land in Bedok has been used for the construction of residential housing, commercial buildings and recreational facilities. Residential units included private housing and high-rise flats built by HDB.
See also[]
References[]
- Marsita Omar, "Bedok land reclamation", Singapore Infopedia[2].
- Matthias Ang, "Bedok & Tampines dug up & flattened to reclaim East Coast stretch over 20 years", Mothership, 25 September 2018[3].
- "Singapore in the 1960s - EP18: Reclaiming Land", Toggle, 6 September 2018[4].
- Lim Tin Seng, "Land From Sand: Singapore's Reclamation Story", BiblioAsia, Features, Vol 13, Issue 1, 4 April 2019[5].
- https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/reclaimed-from-the-sea-how-east-coast-and-marine-parade-came-to-be