GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - A court case on damage to the historic Silver River Bridge, located on the Old George Road between George and Wilderness, is underway in the George Magistrate's Court. The next court date is on Wednesday 5 April.
After a police investigation by the Hawks, they opened a case against a 29-year-old male truck driver of a local truck company, who caused damage to the side of the bridge while crossing over in the direction of Wilderness at the beginning of 2022.
The complainant in the case is Heritage Western Cape, because the Silver River Bridge is a provincial heritage site.
The case is heard by magistrate Frazer, the prosecutor is Adv MP Heyns and the defense attorney is CJ Smit.
Since word got around about this incident, George Herald has reported on several other incidents of trucks getting stuck on the bridge while transporting goods between George and Wilderness. Some trucks came from as far as Gauteng or the West Coast, and they would get stuck on the bridge at all hours of the night.
"Damage to the Silver River and Kaaimans River bridges has occurred in the past on a number of occasions, before and after the event in question," said the former chairperson of the George Heritage Trust, Henry Paine, an architect who provided the Hawks with factual historical information on the bridge.
Paine said this is clear from all the scrape marks on the sides of the bridges, as well as missing parts. "The road was not designed to carry large vehicles, which is obvious to an observer, but this has not deterred drivers from 'taking a chance' and driving through the route for one reason or another."
Paine said the lack of signs from the George side to warn the drivers of heavy vehicles, has not helped the situation.
"The problem has also been exacerbated by the collapse of railway services designed to carry heavy loads," he said.
Pieces of the parapet have been knocked into the Silver River as a result of a collision.
Read more on sister publication, www.georgeherald.com
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