Nelson Mandela Bridge

OOf the many buildings, roads, squares and bays named after the first democratically elected president of South Africa, the Nelson Mandela Bridge is the most fitting tribute to this great man.

This Johannesburg landmark symbolically links the old and new as it ushers traffic into the heart of rejuvenated downtown Johannesburg.

The Nelson Mandela Bridge, which cost R38 million, is the largest cable-stayed bridge in southern Africa.

The vast quantities of construction materials that went into its creation underpin what a feat of engineering it is. It took 4 000 cubic meters of concrete, 1 000 tons of structural steel and 500 tons of construction steel to realise the seemingly weightless pinnacle that gleams with the promise of the new.

The bridge is 284 meters long, 42 meters high at the north pylon and 27 meters high at the south pylon.

IIt accommodates two lanes of traffic in either direction, as well as reserved lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. Rumbling beneath are over 40 train tracks as the bridge is located in the commuter hub of Johannesburg.

The bridge links the Newtown Cultural Precinct – home to Mary Fitzgerald Square, the historic Market Theatre, Museum Africa and Gramadoelas Restaurant – with lower Braamfontein, another site of renewal encompassing the Constitutional Court, The University of the Witwatersrand and The Civic Theatre.

This landmark in Johannesburg was constructed as part of the ongoing BlueIQ initiative, which has poured over R500 million into the rejuvwits

enation of the downtown area. Nelson Mandela himself officially opened the bridge on 20 July 2003.