When construction began on the Johor-Singapore Causeway in August 1919, it was the largest engineering project in Malaya, costing an estimated 17 million Straits dollars – roughly the equivalent of US$1.6 billion in modern money.
The design by Messrs Coode, Matthews, Fitzmaurice & Wilson stretched 1.06km from bank to bank and its width of 18.2 metres allowed for two metre-gauge railway tracks, a 7.9-metre roadway and space for the laying of a water pipeline.