The steel arch
Above the Second Gorge.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · cowbridgeguide.co.uk — CC BY 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · cowbridgeguide.co.uk — CC BY 3.0 · Pavel Špindler — CC BY 3.0 · Matti Blume — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Victoria Falls Bridge is a steel arch over the Zambezi at the Second Gorge, just below the falls, linking Zimbabwe and Zambia. It carries a road, a railway and a footway, with border posts at each end, and it is one of Africa's best-known bridges, with a rare view of river, spray and gorge. The bridge was Cecil Rhodes's idea, part of his Cape to Cairo railway scheme, and he asked for it to be placed where trains would catch the spray. George Andrew Hobson designed it, and its parts were made in Darlington, England, shipped to Beira and brought in by train. It took 14 months to build and was opened on 12 September 1905 by George Darwin, son of Charles Darwin. The bridge is 198 metres long with a main arch of 156.5 metres, 128 metres above the river's low water mark. From the footway you see green water in the gorge beneath you, black rock and spray on the horizon. The site has a small museum on the bridge, a café and adventure activities including a bungee jump, and trucks cross it, with trains moving very slowly. The bridge is 2.6 km in a straight line east of central Victoria Falls town, beyond the Zimbabwean border post, so carry your passport and ask there about a pass to walk onto it. Do not enter Zambia without the right visa. Watch for trucks on the road, stay on the footway, do not climb the barriers, and ask before photographing border buildings.
Above the Second Gorge.
Green water below.
The story of the 1905 build.
Second Gorge, between Victoria Falls and Livingstone towns
Ask at the border post about walking onto the bridge, and entering Zambia needs the right visa.
Yes, but very slowly, because of the bridge's age.
