Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

154 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. A BRIDGE ON THE MAIN LINE. Victoria Falls Bridge has been described in a previous article (pp. 90-101, vol. i.), a mere reference to this remarkable feat of engi- Victoria Falls. neenng will suffice here. We may men- tion in passing that the elec- tric transporter used to move building material across the gorge was worked with cur- rent generated by powerful dynamos situated at the foot problem for the engineers to solve ; but Sir Charles Metcalfe, the consulting engineer of the line, and those with him, were convinced that the difficulty could be overcome, and sub- sequent achievements have proved their faith to be justified. By the selection of this route a very much easier line of country for the railway was secured ; there were but few watercourses to cross, and no need for very heavy bridging or cutting. As soon as it was- possible to get to work again, no time was lost in pushing the railhead forward to the Victoria Falls, of the southern tower, and driven by power obtained direct from the Falls themselves. The success of this instal- lation is responsible for the great scheme of utilizing the gigantic force of the Falls for the gold mines of Rhodesia and the Transvaal Rand. The work of carrying the necessary material for the railway along the line proved a task of no small magnitude. At first the existing lines of the Cape Government rail- way system were employéd for this purpose ; but, as the line was hurried forward towards the north, other where it arrived early in 1905. Then work upon the line north of the Falls through North-western Rho- desia to the important settlement of Kalomo was at once commenced. This latter section of the line belongs, we should notice, to the Mashonaland Railway Com- pany, and not to the Rho- desia Railways, Limited, which had brought up the line from Vryburg. Kalomo, 93 miles north of the Vic- toria Falls, was reached on May 29, 1905. As the building of the A MIXED TRAIN.