Have you ever seen a sanddollar, fresh from the sea? It is sort of a greyish color with fuzzy stuff growing on it right?
Have you ever seen one after only a short time out of the water? They turn whitish grey within days and eventually near white. Corals are the same way.
The lovely, vivid colors you see in photos of undersea corals are correct - I used to dive in the FL Keys when I was stationed there in the Navy. However, give them only a short time out of the water and they turn dingy and soon whitish-grey.
Im certain they didnt use the coral fresh from the sea to pave Tinian, but rather something like excavated deposits. All in all, the color would be pretty much the same either way...greyish white.