Robert Peirce

Robert Peirce (1863–1933) was a British-born civil engineer in Malaysia and Singapore.

Robert Peirce was born in 1863 and trained as a civil engineer in Manchester before moving to the Straits Settlement of Penang in modern day Malaysia in 1891.

He started his career articled to Mr. R. Vawser, M. Inst. C.E., of Manchester but spent several years in Birmingham, where he was engaged as resident engineer for the corporation working on the construction of cable tramways. Before arriving in Penang, Peirce was employed as assistant to Pritchard & Co., civil engineers, of London and Birmingham.

Peirce was engineer to the Municipal Commissioners of George Town, Penang from 1891 to 1901.

He won the competition to design the Jubilee Clock Tower to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria The gleaming whitewashed tower is topped by a Moorish dome. It has four tiers: the base is octagon-shaped and the following two tiers comprise four distinct sections with elaborate windows, balconies and a working clock on each side. The topmost tier is rounded off with Roman pillars and topped with a golden dome cupola. The six steps leading up to the main entrance denote the number of decades of Queen Victoria's reign.

Jalan Peirce in Penang is named after the Municipal Engineer.

The Jubilee Clock Tower.

In Singapore, Peirce is best known today for his work on the Kalang River Reservoir or the Lower Peirce Reservoir. While construction began in 1902 - a year in which Singapore experienced a serious drought - the scheme was conceived by a previous Municipal Engineer James MacRitchie in the early 1890s. The reservoir was completed in 1910 according to the commemorative plaque and opened in March 1912. The reservoir and its importance to Singapore is comprehensively described in a contemporary newspaper article

Perhaps as a result of the 1902 drought, the Water Department, under Peirce, introduced water metering to Singapore in the following years.

Peirce was warmly praised for his work: 'Singapore now has one of the finest water supplies in the world, and to get that on a tiny island which has no river much bigger than a ditch must have meant long and earnest study and a fine capacity for making the most of available means' The reservoir was renamed the Peirce Reservoir in 1922 in recognition of Peirce's service.

In Singapore, Peirce was responsible for initiating plans to import water from Johor, for the completion of the Woodleigh Filters and the Kallang Tunnel, for the waterborne sewerage system, for the construction of numerous roads and for the planning of the Fort Canning reservoir. He was named one of four 'Builders of Modern Singapore' in 1929 along with Messrs Farrer, Middleton and Gentle.

Three Reservoirs in Singapore are named after influential Municipal Engineers: James MacRitchie, Robert Peirce and David J. Murnane.

Peirce also served on the building committee which was formed to oversee the erection of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall completed in 1905. Looking at his design of the Jubilee Clock Tower in Penang one can see some similarities with the clocktower of the later Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.

Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore

Peirce Road and Peirce Hill, off Holland Road in Singapore, are named after the Manchester-born Municipal Engineer.

Peirce was ably supported by his deputy Stephen Williams who came to be known as the 'father of the Gunong Pulai water scheme' in modern day Johor, Malaysia. This was the first project to bring treated water from Malaysia to Singapore and it began operating in 1927.

Peirce went into business as an engineer in London sometime after retiring as Municipal Engineer in Singapore in 1916. His firm acted as agent for the Singapore Municipal Commission in London. After his retirement in 1924, Williams joined Peirce in business.

Here is the entry in Who's Who in the Far East 1906/7: "PEIRCE, Robert (SINGAPORE), M.I.C.E.; Municipal Engineer; b. Jan. 21, 1863. Educ. : Manchester, England. During 1880-1891 engaged on construction of Drainage, Water Works, Bridges and Tramways in Lancashire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire; prepared scheme and despatched all materials and plant for Water Supply of Pretoria, South Africa; appointed Municipal Engineer, Penang, by General Sir Andrew Clarke, in 1891; resigned to take up appointment of Municipal Engineer, Singapore, in 1901; during service in Straits Settlements has designed and constructed Roads, Bridges, Sea Walls, Reservoirs, Drains, Abattoirs, Sewerage Systems and Jetties; last work being the raising of dam of Impounding Reservoirs."

In 1923, the Municipal Engineer Col Pearson made allegations about defective work on the 'Kallang Reservoir Dam'. He went so far as to raise the question as to whether the Municipal engineering staff (Peirce and his deputy Williams) may have colluded with the contractor to use sub-standard clay which resulted in leakage in the dam. There was extensive newspaper coverage over 3 days in April 1923 and discussion in the Municipal Commission. Peirce wrote a lengthy letter to defend the work. This is an interesting example of the open debate and discussion that occurred in the Municipal Commission, and its willingness to deal openly with allegations of corruption.

Peirce died in 1933 in Gibraltar.