Construction has started on the Graskop Gorge elevator, with around 160 t of concrete poured on the first section of the lift base last week.
Building the viewing lift on Mpumalanga’s Panorama Route is an engineering first for South Africa and it is estimated that the tourism node will be open in time for the festive season.
“The concrete mixture had to be specifically formulated to maintain its consistency and not separate during the 60 m drop from the top of the cliff into the foundation,” developer Campbell Scott said in a statement.
Construction company Enza Construction designed a simple but effective pipe system that ran down the cliff and into which the concrete was poured.
“Nine cement trucks from Lafarge South Africa offloaded concrete for the base. The whole process took several hours to complete and was a success,” Scott noted.
Once completed, the lift will transport visitors to the bottom of the gorge and into elevated walkways and suspension bridges, which will allow them to explore the rivers and forest.