Structural Engineering Overseas - 1920-1934 Federated Malay States

A REVIEW of structural engineering in Malaya, covering the years 1920 to 1934, is largely a review of the development and use of reinforced concrete as a structural material. Prior to 1920 reinforced concrete was comparatively little used, bricks and
mortar being the materials generally employed for buildings, steel was universally employed for bridges, and mass concrete was the usual material for reservoirs, storage tanks, and similar structures. In this connection it may be well to mention that probably the first reinforced concrete structure constructed in Malaya was a ferry boat. Such a craft was built for the Federated Malay States Railway in 1912, by Messrs. Brossard Mopin, a Singapore firm of French engineers, and was employed for transporting goods across the Johore Straits until the Johore Causeway, which is referred to later, rendered the use of ferry boats obsolete.

F.G. Coales