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Date: 1936 Type: Bridge Status: Extant   Click to view large map Coordinates: 33°11'44.71" S 20°51'16.33" E Alt: 648m

"This 'river' was usually dry as a bone but in January 1981 it came down with such fury that half the town was wiped out with huge loss of life. Most of the houses nestling inside the curve of the railway were washed away as was the railway embankment either side of the bridge which miraculously stood its ground. This was the flood which put paid to the Ladismith branch." The pre-1936 railway bridge over the Buffels River at Laingsburg consisted of six 30m spans, the spans being steel girders below the railway track and therefore known as 'deck' spans. The bridge was situated immediately downstream of the confluence of the Baviaans and Buffels rivers. Planning started in 1926 with the development of four different schemes, culminating in a decision in May 1930 to construct the new bridge of six 30m steel through spans. Later in 1930 the district engineer at Beaufort West, Mr A F Bruyns Haylett, later chief civil engineer, suggested that a reinforced concrete arch bridge be constructed. Design of the bridge proceeded in the SAR Bridge Office but with the onset of the financial depression the physical work was not authorized until 1934. Due to the complications of expropriating residential stands and track alignments, the bridge was eventually constructed a few meters downstream of the old bridge. The tender was awarded to Mr A Catella on 13 August 1934. The engineer in charge was Mr R Phipps who later spent several years in the bridge office. The bridge was opened to traffic on 25 May 1936. Sources: (1) Soul of A Railway (2) Travers, RM. 1983. Die Siviele Ingenieur in Suid-Afrika: The Buffels River railway bridge, Laingsburg. p219. Submitted by: Paul van der Merwe