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Outeniqua Pass George, Western Cape

Date: 1942-1951 : 1993-1997 Type: Mountain Pass Style: Engineered Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 22.402654 S E

The engineer tasked with the design, Pieter Agricola de VILLIERS, of the National Road Board, was locally born. He had recently been responsible for the Du Toit's Kloof Pass. The labour force allocated to the project were 500 Italian prisoners's of war. The pass traversed hard rock needing hard labour and much blasting. The Italians were reluctant and progress slow. At the end of World War 2 in 1945 they were repatriated and replaced by a local labour force. However after the War many Italians returned to marry the local women they had met! The widening of the road in 1993 required local co-operation and careful environmental management, and the project is considered a model of its kind for such co-operative undertakings. Books that reference Outeniqua Pass Whitehead, Marion . 2018. South Africa's Favourite Passes + Poorts. Maitland: Map Studio. pg 136-137, 139, 142-143