Die Lady De Waal Brug

When the waters came down in the Groot River, it was hazardous to cross the river, which caused great concern among the residents of the newly founded town of Steytlerville in 1876. A request was sent to the government to build a bridge over the Groot River. Although Parliament had already approved £ 25,000 for the construction of a steel bridge over the river before 1904, construction did not begin until 1911. The bridge was opened in 1913 and is called The Lady De Waal Bridge in honour of the wife of the then Administrator of the Cape Province, Sir Frederick de Waal.

Flooding did wash away the bridge twice, first in 1916 and again in 1921. Both times, the bridge was rebuilt, but these days, it is mostly used only by pedestrians after a new concrete bridge was built in 1974 over the turbulent Groot River just a few hundred meters north of the De Waal bridge.