Page 110 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

• Kaaimans River Railway Bridge between ◊ Below: Kaaimans River Railway Bridge
George and Wilderness is arguably one of the most ◊ Bottom: Khayelitsha
photographed bridges in South Africa. It even appeared
on a bridge calendar of the American Society of Civil
Engineers. The world famous Outeniqua narrow gauge
steam train service between George and Knysna has
unfortunately been suspended due to major slips on
the slopes of the Kaaimans River. A steam train and
transport museum is situated at the George Railway
Station.

33°57’15.95” S, 22°27’10.70” E

• The N2 highway viaducts and bridges at Wilder-
ness represents civil engineering ingenuity at its best
due to the fact that within this ecologically sensitive
and geologically unstable environment the road had
to be widened substantially. Accommodation of heavy
haul traffic along the steep and winding passes and 12. Khayelitsha pressure control sounds like a
measures to reduce the fatalities due to runaway very boring subject and what would there be to see?
vehicles were successfully achieved and this scenic However, this suburb housing about 500 000 people
route is a feather in the cap of civil engineering pro- on the Cape Flats, had a serious loss of water or what
fessionals. is known as non-revenue water that disappears in the
sands. Housing in a large portion of the town is still in
the form of informal settlements or commonly known as
33°59’32.00” S, 22°35’00.00” E shack structures supplied with water from standpipes.

1