Brandwacht pedestrian bridge

At a crossroad

Approximately 25km from the pass lies the small town of Brandwacht. An equally picturesque landscape, the area has a population of roughly 2,000. But although the town is small, the road is busy with Garden Route tourists, trucks, and speeding traffic, making it a dangerous road for residents and schoolchildren to cross. In addition, the vertical and horizontal alignments of the road affect forward visibility and stopping sight distance, which means crossing it is a life-threatening hazard for pedestrians, especially when there is heavy rain and mist. At least five people, including four children, have died, and many others have been injured crossing the R328 at Brandwacht.

On 4 April 2018, the Mossel Bay Municipality appointed Royal HaskoningDHV for the design, procurement, and construction supervision of the Brandwacht Pedestrian Bridge.

A path to safety

In July 2015, Royal HaskoningDHV assisted the Mossel Bay Municipality in applying for Municipality Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding for the bridge, which would give pedestrians a safe passage across the R328 to shops, churches, and schools without facing speeding traffic.

In 2018, the application was approved, and the Municipality appointed Royal HaskoningDHV to oversee the project. Due to the scenic nature of the surrounding environment, the bridge had to be designed with an emphasis on aesthetics since it would be visually prominent over the road. It also had to be cost-effective and practical to ensure the community would support and use it.

Using digital tools for visualisations, design, 3D modelling, and working drawings, the Royal HaskoningDHV and EMPA Structures joint venture presented a design that not only met community and environmental requirements but the budget as well. They also consulted with the local school principal and community leader on the best location for the bridge to ensure the community would make full use of it.

The Brandwacht Pedestrian Bridge was designed to have simple, elegant lines, curved deck soffit, and radiused corners to soften the visible deck edges. Although the initial brief was to design a bridge with handrails, previous experience with the Western Cape Government told the teams that a closed cage would be more appropriate. As a result, the design accommodated a cage and accounted for future replacement and maintenance.

To accommodate this, the initial formwork was pre-assembled off-site to ensure optimal quality, productivity, and minimal disruption to traffic. What’s more, the cage was designed so that pedestrians could easily see the other end.

To maximise endurance, the bridge was built above the required 6.0m clearance and monolithically with the piers.

Traffic windows, height restriction gantry signs, and a speed limit reduction to 60km/h were some safety precautions during deck staging and construction. In addition, special care was taken to design columns that could sustain the collision loads in proximity to the R328. The horizontal members of the cage were wave-shaped and painted blue, representing the ocean nearby and further enhancing aesthetics.

A bridge over troubled roads

The construction was completed in October 2021 – on time and on budget. Most importantly, the bridge offered Brandwacht residents a safe pathway across a hazardous road, potentially saving thousands of lives. Parents now have peace of mind that their children can get to and from school safely every day. 

In addition, local workers and SMEs had employment, training, and collaboration opportunities that gave them skills and knowledge they could leverage for years to come. Some training included gabion box construction, fixing shuttering, steel repair, pouring concrete, and working at heights.

Essentially, the community helped build their own bridge, giving them a great sense of pride, ownership, and empowerment.

The project wasn’t just a simple construction but involved the entire community – from the school community to the residents, local labourers, and sub-contractors. Everyone assisted in building a pedestrian safety net that would protect residents for generations to come.

At Royal HaskoningDHV, we believe in sustainability, leadership, education, and action. To ensure we Enhance Society Together, we considered our five themes: Climate Change, Biodiversity and Natural Systems, Resources and Circularity, Social Value and Equality, and Safety and Wellbeing.

Two main themes during the Brandwacht Pedestrian Bridge include:

• Social Value and Equality: The ramp and staircase were built on the west end as an earth-filled construction with gabion walls at the road reserve. This way, the fill wouldn’t spill into the adjacent property and would visually align with the earth bank on the east end. Additionally, it created job and upskilling opportunities for locals.
• Safety and Wellbeing: To ensure schoolchildren could use the bridge, the team held a bridge safety presentation and learning session, encouraging students to cross the bridge safely while fostering a sense of ownership of the bridge among the students.

The Brandwacht Pedestrian Bridge project won the CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards 2022 in the Projects less than R50 million category.