Civil Engineering August 2021 | Vol 29 No 7

Transportat i on T he distance between the north and south banks of the Msikaba Bridge site is approximately 600 m but was previously only accessible via an almost three-hour drive by road over 96 km. The cable car will enable site staff to cross the gorge in an estimated three to four minutes. The cable car, which can accommo- date up to six people or 500 kg in weight, will transport site staff and occasionally small quantities of material from the south to the north bank and vice versa. “Even though the two sides of the bridge are effectively being built as two sub-projects, each with its own staff, equipment and material, it is necessary for senior staff and specialists to be able to access both sides of the gorge easily. Due to the logistical problems of getting from one side of the site to the other, the cableway is being installed for temporary use by staff for the remaining duration of the construction period,” explains Craig McLachlan, SANRAL’s lead project manager on the N2WCR Project. A company from Switzerland, licensed to install cableways, was appointed to carry out the work. Work on the cableway started a year ago but was substantially delayed when the coronavirus pandemic curtailed international travel. N2WCR PROJECT UPDATE The N2WCR Project entails upgrading the 410 km of road, which stretches from East London to the Mtamvuna River on the border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. The project is located on the N2, which connects four provinces, namely the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, and traverses the cities and major towns of Cape Town, George, Port Elizabeth, East London, Mthatha, Durban and Ermelo. The project consists of two mega bridges – the Mtentu Bridge and the Msikaba Bridge – as well as seven other major road works projects, including several major bridges and interchange structures. SANRAL, as the custodian of the N2WCR Project, is making steady prog- ress in developing this multi-billion-rand project, which will serve as a crucial economic artery in the region. The R1.65 billion Msikaba Bridge is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Built by Concor Infrastructure in a joint venture with Mota Engil Construction, it will require a whopping 43 000 m 3 of concrete, 2 700 tons of structural steel, 1 090 tons of cables and 3 100 tons of steel reinforcing. With a 580 m span and 195 m height, the Msikaba Bridge is destined to be the longest cable-stayed bridge in Africa and the second longest main-span bridge crossing ever built on the continent. The Msikaba Bridge will also be the third highest bridge in Africa, eclipsed only by the existing Bloukrans Bridge on the Garden Route and the Mtentu Bridge, the other mega-bridge that forms part of the N2WCR Project, which will be 223 m high once complete. Tenders for the Mtentu Bridge project have closed and are currently in adjudication. A contractor is expected to be appointed by September 2021. Provided that there are no significant delays on the Mtentu Bridge project, the construction period is estimated to be 46 months, including a four-month mobilisation period.  Cable car installed at N2WCR Project A temporary cableway that will drastically reduce the travelling time between the south and north sites of the Msikaba Bridge is now operational on the N2 Wild Coast Road (N2WCR) Project. A scale model of the cable-stayed Msikaba Bridge Civil Engineering  August 2021 35