Swartberg pass History

Thomas Bain was a very interesting man with a variety of hobbies from sketching to botanist, but what he is known for is the passes he built in South Africa.  He built the Swartberg pass almost at the end of his career, so his experience and expertise show in the construction of the pass. Although Bain did the original design for the government in 1879, the first builder was Jan Tassie. He started building work in 1881 but after 13 months he was bankrupt.

In September 1883, Thomas Bain took over the building work and completed it in November 1886. The official opening of the pass was on 10 January 1888.

The pass was built using pickaxes, spades, sledgehammers, crowbars, wheelbarrows and gunpowder. Rocks were broken by heating them with fire and then dousing them with cold water. Rocks were broken into smaller pieces with sledgehammers and then carefully fitted together without cement. The drywall method of construction was used to built the impressive retaining walls that supported the road up the steep slopes. A century later, travellers still wonder about this feat. On the south side, there is a stretch where the retaining wall is 2.4 km long without interruption. The pass is 23.8km.

The Swartberg Nature Reserve is large, about 180,000 hectares and offers hiking trails, picnic spots with beautiful views, 4x4 trails, bird watching, and much more.

Source:

Fransie Pienaar Museum

Mountain Passes South Africa

Komnick, P. S. (1984). A Colossus of Roads - Thomas Bain. Cape Town: Murray & Roberts/Concor.