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Elgin Valley bridge restoration a timeless reminder of courage and determination against tough odds

Elgin Valley bridge restoration a timeless reminder of courage and determination against tough odds
Mountain biking is a way of life or many people in the Elgin Valley. Photo: Supplied
Liz Clarke
By Liz Clarke
27 Jan 2025
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The Overberg Meander Crossing is a nod to history and a testament to courage against the odds.

At the heart of the Elgin Valley in the Overberg region beyond Sir Lowry’s Pass is the bustling and slightly chaotic village of Grabouw.

Apple orchards sweep across the picturesque surrounding countryside, also known for its high-end cool-climate wines and adventure tourism.

But somewhere in the midst of all this are the ghosts of the old pioneers who, at the turn of the previous century, built Elgin Valley’s first steam train railway bridge across the Palmiet River, bringing visitors, including author and war correspondent Rudyard Kipling, to this newfound gem.

However, with a growing demand and more traffic, a sturdier bridge was needed and, in 1928, the old railway track was moved to the adjacent bridge construction site.

The old 1901 bridge became private farm property, remaining unused and forgotten for more than a century – until recently.

It’s quite a convoluted story, with many stops and goes entangled in its fragile history, one steeped in the blood, sweat and tears of those who had the crazy belief that carving a railway line through solid rock over the Hottentots Holland Mountains and Sir Lowry’s Pass was doable.

And it was. The Cape Government Railways’ puffing steam train travelling at just under 20km/h up the steep mountainside became a familiar sight at the turn of the previous century.

The first steam train reached Elgin on 1 August 1902, a year after construction had started.

Elgin Valley The legacy of the beloved steam train is part of the Overberg story. (Photo: Supplied)



Who better to tell this tale than Pieter Silberbauer, a mountain bike enthusiast and longtime resident of the Elgin Valley who has taken a keen interest in not only the history of the bridge, but also in helping to preserve it.

“For many years conversations have centred on restoring the 1901 bridge,” Silberbauer explains. “We knew that it would be a huge labour of love and require expertise and funding. The support pillars were still intact and it could still be used for light traffic. But then, in 2018, a wildfire damaged the supporting timbers underneath and the gravel started falling away. The bridge was declared unsafe, making any thoughts of restoration almost impossible.”

And highly dangerous, he adds. “I fell through one of the wooden slats and landed in the river below!”

Nevertheless, the restoration dream persisted. The belief among local farmers and mountain bikers was that if the original track could be restored as a usable commuter and bicycle track, it would be a safer route for hikers, bikers and workers commuting to their place of work, and to the iconic Elgin Railway Market and the biking trails on the other side of the river.

It would also cut out the need to go through Grabouw, whose streets are hugely busy at weekends and during commuting hours.

Plans for the restoration were well under way when disaster struck again. On the Heritage Day weekend of 24 to 25 September 2023, the worst floods in the region’s history turned the normally subdued Palmiet River into a fast-flowing torrent.

Bridges were washed away and the spiderweb of tracks used by intrepid mountain bikers for many national and international events was reduced to piles of splintered wreckage.

It was a devastating time. Farmers struggled to come to terms with the damage, and the cancellation of the upcoming Wines2Whales international mountain bike event would have spelled further economic disaster for the Elgin Valley.

Mountain biking is a way of life or many people in the Elgin Valley. (Photo: Supplied)



“There was no time to lose,” Silberbauer recalls. “Once the floodwaters had receded we only had two-and-a-half weeks to get the job done to ensure the event could take place. It meant around-the-clock restoration and repairs to bridges and cycle tracks.”

Once the Wines2Whales event was done and dusted and the flood-damaged trails were usable again, the focus was back on the 1901 bridge – now named the Overberg Meander Crossing.

“It was a bigger job than we had ever anticipated,” Silberbauer says. “The fire had burnt a lot of the supporting timbers and we needed to prop up the underside of the bridge where gravel had fallen away. It required more funding, specialist engineers and large amounts of ready-mix concrete.”

Those involved say that getting this mission off the ground was nothing short of a miracle – a mixture of positive energy, goodwill, willing volunteers and respect for history and the environment.

Today, the Overberg Meander Crossing is a timeless reminder of courage and determination against tough odds. It has become an iconic part of Elgin Valley’s history, one which won’t be easily forgotten. It is a heritage site in the making, some might say.

Mountain biking in the Elgin Valley


Elgin, a training terrain and race location for mountain bikers, has been evolving a more unified trail network that began in the 1990s. There are now more than 200km of marked mountain biking routes, largely single tracks, including the Grabouw Forest Trails and Oak Valley’s international class tracks.

The Overberg Meander is a scenic 370km, multiday gravel-biking or bike-packing trail through the rural Southern Cape.

Riders pedal via verdant vineyards, rugged gravel passes and rolling hills to the scenic beaches of Cape Agulhas at the southernmost tip of Africa.

More about the early train pioneers


The South African War severely restricted new railway building as labour, rolling stock and materials were to be commandeered by the Imperial Military Railways to aid the British war effort.

Nevertheless, construction over the Hottentots Holland Mountains commenced in 1898 and George Pauling, a leading railway contractor in the development of southern Africa during the late 19th century, had to work with limited resources.

The Caledon line was officially opened to the public on 1 August 1902, two months after the war ended, although it had been used by the British army before that date for shipment to Cape Town of fodder for their horses. DM

Liz Clarke is a freelance journalist.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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