The Sugar Bridge

The sugar bridge over the Buffelsjags River has long been considered a local landmark. Building began in 1845 and the bridge was opened in 1852. It was originally called The Mitchel/Montagu bridge. The construction consists of 10 buttresses which were built from red sandstone, hewn from a nearby quarry. The struts were made from teak. These wooden struts were salvaged from the wrecked Robert which ran aground at the mouth of the Lourens River in 1847. These wooden beams were brought up the river as far as Malgas.

The sandstone blocks had to be cemented together and as cement was not yet commercially available, the mortar needed to be made using sand and lime. The drawback with this material is the length of time it takes to set. The construction would have been washed away before it hardened. It was then decided that gypsum should be used, however, this sets too quickly and the stones could not be placed before the mixture began to cure. In order to slow down this process, ordinary household sugar was used. Hence the name Sugar Bridge it was declared a national monument in 1989

The bridge was part of the Groote Wagen weg till the 1950s. It has consistently been subjected to flood damage and the wooden struts have been deteriorating for many years. Serious damage was first done during flooding in 1936 and restoration was ongoing for many years. Floods in 2009 made the bridge unusable. Plans are afoot to restore it so that it can be used as a pedestrian bridge.

34°02’43.26″ S 20°32’05.17″ E