Victoria Falls Bridge
Posted by: 
Mafushwa
S 17° 55.701 E 025° 51.428
35K E 378957 N 8017369
The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls. As the river is the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the bridge links the two countries and has border posts on the approaches to both ends, at the towns of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Livingstone, Zambia.
Waymark Code: WMN6RC
Location: Zimbabwe
Date Posted: 01/06/2015
Views: 7
Carries: road, rail, foot traffic
Crosses: Zambezi River
Locale: Second Gorge of Victoria Falls, crossing the Zimbabwe-Zambia border
Maintained by: National railways of Zimbabwe and Zambia
CHARACTERISTICS
Design: Parabolic arch
Material: Steel
Total length: 198 metres (650 ft)
Height: 128 metres (420 ft)
Longest span: 156.5 metres (513 ft)
Number of spans: 1
Piers in water: 0
HISTORY
Designer: G. A. Hobson
Constructed by: Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
Construction begin: 1904
Construction end: 1905
The bridge was the brainchild of Cecil Rhodes, part of his grand and unfulfilled Cape to Cairo railway scheme, even though he never visited the falls and died before construction of the bridge began.
Rhodes is recorded as instructing the engineers to "build the bridge across the Zambezi where the trains, as they pass, will catch the spray of the Falls".
It was designed by George Andrew Hobson of consultants Sir Douglas Fox and Partners, not as is often stated, Sir Ralph Freeman, who contributed to the design of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At the time of the design of the Victoria Falls Bridge, Freeman was an assistant in the firm who, in those pre-computer days, was calculating stresses.
The bridge was constructed in England by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company, before being shipped to the Mozambique port of Beira and then transported on the newly constructed railway to the Victoria Falls. It took just 14 months to construct and was completed in 1905.
The bridge was officially opened by Professor George Darwin, son of Charles Darwin and President of the British Association (now the British Science Association) on 12 September 1905. The American Society of Civil Engineers lists the bridge as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
The age of the bridge and maintenance problems have led to traffic restrictions at times. Trains cross at less than walking pace and trucks were limited to 30 t, necessitating heavier trucks to make a long diversion via the Kazungula Ferry or Chirundu Bridge. The limit was raised after repairs in 2006, but proposals for more fundamental rehabilitation or construction of a new bridge have been aired.
Today one of the Victoria Falls Bridge's main attraction are historical guided tours focusing on the construction of the bridge and which include a walking tour under the main deck.
Length of bridge: 198m
Height of bridge: 128m
What type of traffic does this bridge support?: road, rail, foot traffic
What kind of gap does this bridge cross?:
Gorge
Date constructed: 1905
Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: Yes
Name of road or trail the bridge services: Livingstone way
Location:
Victoria Falls / Livingstone
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Visit Instructions:
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