Staircase Down Gorge - Graskop Glass Elevator Development
Tourism node construction challenges developers
Building a staircase from the plateau to the bottom of the gorge was a challenging task.
Although the teams contracted to bring the Graskop Gorge tourism node development to life are being tested by the tough terrain, work is progressing well.
Earthbound Timber Designs has been charged with building the walkways and doing the decking both on the plateau where the retail offering and restaurant will be located, and at the bottom of the gorge, where environmental trails will encourage visitors to learn more about the escarpment’s afro-montane forest.
Although the central attraction will be a glass elevator that will transport people 51 metres up and down the gorge, it was essential that a staircase also be available as an alternative means of entering and exiting the gorge.
Earthbound Timber’s Vincent Cant says replacing the old staircase that had fallen into disrepair tested their ingenuity.
A staircase into the gorge and elevated walkways on the Northern side of the gorge are complete.
“It involved 125 linear metres and a drop of roughly 70 metres with an average of between 40 and 60 degrees,” he says.
While the work was challenging, he adds that the weather was kind to them and the local workforce professional.
“We have worked on similar projects but not ones as intense as this,” says Vincent.
By mid-July, the wooden walkway on the Northern side of the Gorge, where the Big Swing operates, had been completed and work on the staircase was finished. The stairway descends from the head of the gorge to the base of the waterfall.
“Work on the main, elevated broad-walk at the bottom of the gorge will commence shortly. This will be 500m long and will include two suspension bridge crossings,” says developer Campbell Scott.
“The walkways will allow visitors to explore the unique forest environment, waterfall and stream and will be enhanced by a number of interpretation displays which will give context to this unique ecosystem.”
Developer James Sheard on site. The Graskop Gorge waterfall can be seen in the background.
Lift installers move mountains!
Work is also under way on the lift shaft. A specialised mobile crane is being used by Quality Steel for the shaft assembly, which should be completed in mid-August. Thereafter, Otis Elevator Company will begin the lift installation.
In June, the lift base was constructed. This involved around 160 tons of concrete being poured down a specially-created pipe system that ran down the cliff face.
Creating the lift shaft has been an engineering feat.
The lift shaft weighs 88 tons and is 60m in length, with a total travel distance of 51m, which is around 16 storeys. It is being assembled in 2.5m sections, which are bolted one on top of the other.
The R40 million-plus development is being done by the Graskop Gorge Lift Company – owned by three local private developers and the National Empowerment Fund, who are also shareholders and funders, with the local Thaba Chweu Municipality, through Thaleda, the municipality’s economic development agency.
Situated one kilometre out of Graskop, at the Graskop Gorge, on the R533 towards Hazyview, the Panorama Route development is a first for Africa.
A special chute was created by Enza Construction to pour concrete down the gorge for the construction of the lift base.
