A bridge too far

[Trygve Roberts]

This is the 15th milestone along the Queen's Road between Grahamstown and Ford Beaufort. It was built by Thomas Bain's father - Andrew Geddes Bain. The major pass along this road is the Ecca Pass and it was here that the budding geologist and engineer (Andrew) discovered and named the Ecca formation. We take a deeper look at the tough life of Bain Snr and his progress from immigrant becoming first a saddler, farmer, road engineer, geologist, author, and artist - and all of it self taught.

We explore his young days and his two great claims to fame of siring South Africa's most famous road engineer and himself becoming the Father of South African geology. It's a fascinating story of overcoming hardships and winning through in the end with sheer guts and determination.

The link will take you to our latest news page and from there you can go to the Ecca Pass. It's all free for the next 7 days. Enjoy!

We also take a squiz at a remarkable bit of modern engineering where we unpack the new bridge being built at Ashton which will be transversally moved into position when completed. This one promises to be a hit and the entire operation will take place over a single weekend.

https://bit.ly/2N4g9F6