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History: The national road to Johannesburg crosses the Six Miles Spruit ten km south of Pretoria. The bridge by which it does so is known as the Wierda Bridge. It takes its name from Sytze Wierda, the Chief of Public Works of the Suid-Afrikaansche Republiek.
This bridge, the second to be built over the spruit, was built in consequence of a decision taken by the Executive Council of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek on 26th April, 1891. It consists of a single span of 21,3 m resting on abutments with foundations at a depth of 3,6 m below the river bed. The contractor was J. J. Kirkness and the total cost of the bridge was R15 182,20.
The Wierda Bridge marks the beginning of an extensive road and bridge building programme which the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek undertook in the l890s.
Before gold was discovered in the Transvaal there were no bridges worthy of mention. Indeed, the whole system of communication by road was extremely primitive. District Councils had to see to the maintenance of roads to the best of their ability. Flooded rivers constantly impeded travellers and transport riders and caused serious delays. Eleven years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand the Landdrost of Lydenburg, speaking at the opening of the Steenkamp Bridge over the Spekboom River, was able to say with justifiable pride:
‘Ten years ago there were no bridges worthy of the name in the State and what do we see now? There is no country other than this Republic that can show such a remarkable advance and improvement in ten years.’
The remarkable road and bridge building programme which the Republic undertook in the 1890s was planned and carried out by the Department of Public Works which was established in terms of a resolution passed by the Volksraad on 24th June, 1887. At first the Department was directed by Sytze Wierda, the ‘Government Engineer and Architect’, whose title was changed in 1895 to ‘Chief of Public Works’. Under his energetic leadership the road transport system was completely modernised by 1898. No fewer than 21 large road bridges were designed and built between 1889 and 1898, and this provided a sound basis for communications between the country districts and the capital, Pretoria. Flooded rivers no longer delayed the travellers, transport riders and the mail coaches, and communications with the capital were now assured throughout the year.
Bridges that were erected in the various districts came to be built in the following way : memorials or petitions requesting that a bridge be built across some river were signed by the voters of the district concerned and submitted to the Second Volksraad. If the Second Volksraad was satisfied that a need for the bridge really existed, it passed a resolution requesting the Government to have the bridge built provided that the financial resources of the State permitted it. Specifications were then prepared and an amount of money placed on the estimates. The Department of Public Works then called for tenders. The tenders were then referred to the Auditor-General who recommended to the Executive Council that a suitable tender be accepted. Only when the Executive Council had approved the particular tender, was the contractor allowed to commence building the bridge.
With few exceptions the bridges were built by private contractors who were nearly all foreigners, as shown by their names: G. B. Giletti, T. Knoop, Max Lagois, Celso Gin and M. C. A. Meischke. At first only steel bridges were erected in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. They were made by the ‘Actiengesellschaft für Eisenindustrie und Brückenbau’ of Duisberg and imported from the firm of Harkort of the same city. The Wierda Bridge over the Six Mile Spruit near Pretoria is one of these.
But in his annual report for 1895 Wierda argued strongly for building stone bridges, especially where exposures of rock offered firm foundations for the pillars, since they would eliminate the need to import ‘pre fabricated steel bridges’ from overseas. The authorities accepted this recommendation and immediately began to design and build stone bridges, and by 1898 five such bridges were already in use: The Grobler Bridge over the Komati River between Machadodorp and Carolina, the Meyer Bridge over the Little Olifants River at Middelberg, the Joubert Bridge over the Blyde River between Pilgrim’s Rest and Lydenburg, the Begin der Lijn Bridge over the Vaal at Ermelo and the bridge over the Pivaan River in the Vryheid district.
Proclaimed 1965"
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Construction Date: 1891
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