Our heritage

Sandy Grant | Wednesday December 18, 2013 15:44

 

But that seems only fair because no one else has been contributing these Heritage articles to Mmegi for the last twelve months - (in fact since 2008) so why should anyone else expect to get a share of the pie when they have done nothing to deserve it. 

Anyway, looking back over the year, it was always odds on that this year’s award would go to a bridge partly because I am a bridge person, partly because bridges in this country get absolutely no publicity and partly because there is little awareness that the country has any. 

Part of the problem is that it is only rarely that we get a side on view of those that do exist.  Generally the country is flat and the flood plains are wide with the result that bridges tend to be isolated and remote from housing and other forms of development.

 In other parts of the world, rivers run within deep channels and are often located in cities and towns or in built up areas and are therefore easily viewed from different angles. 

Here, we have in Gaborone the one bridge at Riverwalk over the Notwane and in Francistown bridges over the Inchwe and Tati Rivers. All of them, however, are virtually invisible and are never mentioned as significant townscape features.  We are never likely to know, therefore, if any of them are of particular aesthetic or engineering interest.  But cast your mind around the other major settlements and few bridges come to mind.

Mochudi has its one bridge over the Notwane and a new one nearer Morwa; Serowe, Ramotswa (Ramotswa station bridge?), Molepolole, Kanye, Lobatse, Maun, and Bobonong all seem to be bridgeless - although Maun might make claim differently. 

As was to be expected therefore, I, and doubtless others, have been under under the impression that whilst this country had many features of interest, bridges were unlikely to be one of them. 

Imagine my surprise, therefore, when having a quick look at the Phikwe, Bobonong, Tsetsebjwe, Limpopo area early this year, to find this stunning bridge over the Thune River. Mind you, the bridge doesn’t exactly pose for the photographer and anyone who wants a shot needs to get out his/her vehicle and go wandering up or down the river in order to get a decent view of it.

 But it’s worth the effort. For this largely bridgeless country, this one, still relatively new, with its clean lines and obvious elegance, is a beauty. Would some kind, knowledgeable person please tell us who designed it, when was it constructed and by whom and when was it opened.