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Keppel Road (map) is a major road on the southern part of the Central Business District of Singapore. It is the road providing access to the Singapore Port. A number of shipping terminals and wharves are access directly from this road, among them the Tanjong Pagar Terminal and Keppel Terminal.
Running east-west, Keppel Road starts at the intersection with Shenton Way in the east, and ends near the Keppel Distripark, where it continues as West Coast Highway. The Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) is on the Keppel Viaduct above Keppel Road until km-2.5, where the expressway continues in a northwest direction while Keppel Road heads southwest.
Keppel Road, with the Ayer Rajah Expressway on the Keppel Viaduct overhead (7 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
Keppel Road forms junctions with a number of major roads including Anson Road, Tanjong Pagar Road and Cantonment Road.
The function of the Keppel area as a port goes back to the very founding of Singapore, when William Farquhar noticed the natural sheltered harbour between the main island and Pulau Brani. There were some sea gypsies or Orang Laut living in boats anchored to the shore, which was known as Pantai Chermin ("Mirror Beach"). He reported this to Stamford Raffles.
The development of the Keppel area as a harbour did not begin immediately, as the earlier harbour of Singapore was located further north, in the location of present-day Boat Quay and Collyer Quay. Nonetheless the suitability of Keppel did not go unnoticed, and in 1855, the area was purchased from the Temenggong of Johore. The name Keppel may have been given to it at that time, in honour of Captail (and later Admiral) Henry Keppel (1809-1904), a British naval officer who was credited with subduing piracy in the area.
Another view of Keppel Road
Author: Kimchi.sg (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
The first dock built in the Keppel area was simply called Dock No. 1. It was built by Captain William Cloughton, and completed in 1859. As the benefit of the Keppel area became apparent, more docks were built - Victoria Dock in 1868, Albert Dock in 1879.
The Keppel area was initially simply called New Harbour, until it was renamed to Keppel Harbour by Acting Governor, Alexander Swettenham, in 1900. This coincided with the completion of land reclamation of the area that extended the shoreline, creating space for warehouses and deeper wharves for steamships to berth.
In the one hundred years since then, the area around Keppel Road has transformed into one of the biggest harbours in the world. Little remains of the shoreline as first seen by Willilam Farquhar.
Keppel Rd signboard (7 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
References
Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names by Victor R Savage and Brenda S.A. Yeoh (2004), ISBN 981-210-364-3
Learn more about the Streets of Singapore
If you wish to learn more about the streets of Singapore, I recommend that you get a copy of the Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names (Geography & Environment Research)
by Victor R. Savage and Brenda S.A. Yeoh (Eastern Universities Press by Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 981 210 364 3). It helped me a lot in broadening my knowledge of the streets, and made it more fun when I explored and get to know them personally.Return to Street Names of Singapore
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