Outeniqua Pass George district, Western Cape

Date: 1942-1951 : 1993-1997 Type: Mountain Pass Style: Engineered Status: Extant

Coordinates: Alt: 820m

Notes: 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 a reluctant crew and so progress was 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.

References:

Newly reconstructed road ascending the pass from George (1952) Scanned large format black-and-white negative. Source: DRISA Photographer: South African Railways Publicity and Travel Department. Photographer unidentified.