Paul Sauer Bridge, Concrete arch bridge in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The Paul Sauer Bridge is a reinforced concrete deck arch bridge over the Storms River gorge on the N2 in Eastern Cape. Its hollow-box arch has a span of 100.6 m and carries the deck 123.4 m above the river. The deck rests on 12 sets of three inclined struts, whose angle increases away from the crown.
Italian engineer Riccardo Morandi designed this bridge, which was completed in 1956. It represented a major infrastructure achievement in South Africa during the mid-20th century.
The bridge is named after Paul Olivier Sauer (1898–1976), a long-serving minister of the Nasionale Party. It carries the N2 on the Garden Route, 583 km from Cape Town and 166 km from Port Elizabeth, and drivers crossing it can look down into the Storms River gorge.
The bridge carries the N2 across the Storms River gorge near the village of Stormsrivier, 583 km from Cape Town and 166 km from Port Elizabeth. It is a road bridge crossed by car, not a footbridge, so the arch and gorge are seen in passing rather than from a viewing deck on the structure itself.
The bridge was built using an innovative construction method where four separate half-arches were built vertically on opposite sides of the gorge. These elements were then rotated and lowered to meet in the center and form the complete structure.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,816 contributors worldwide.
