 To reconstruct No. 1 's existing runway as an all @-@ weather strip , the bomb craters had to have the water pumped out of them and then be filled in . Sandstone from a quarry on northern Labuan was placed over the clay and sand subbase , and the runway was topped with crushed coral from the west coast of the island , and sealed with bitumen . The 5 @,@ 000 @-@ foot ( 1 @,@ 500 m ) runway had 70 hardstandings for aircraft . With 70 also on the dry weather strip , the air base could accommodate 140 aircraft . The 9th Division 's engineers also undertook a wide range of construction projects on Labuan . These included building 356 @,@ 000 square feet ( 33 @,@ 100 m2 ) of storage , new port facilities , bridges and oil tanks as well as surfacing 29 miles ( 47 km ) of roads . A wharf for Liberty ships was begun on 18 June , allowing the first ship to berth on 10 July . A fuel jetty was in operation by 20 June , and a fuel tank farm with seven 2 @,@ 300 @-@ US @-@ barrel ( 270 @,@ 000 l ; 72 @,@ 000 US gal ; 60 @,@ 000 imp gal ) tanks was completed on 12 July , as was a 600 @-@ bed hospital . Work then began on a 1 @,@ 200 @-@ bed general hospital . The 2 / 4th and 2 / 6th Australian General Hospitals were transferred from Morotai to Labuan during July , though the later unit 's hospital facilities were not completed until 17 September . 
