287:, the largest town in the Little Karoo, with Prince Albert beyond the Swartberg mountains in the open plains of the Great Karoo. Construction on the scenic 24 km long Swartberg pass started in 1884 and was completed in 1887. Bain was assisted by another road engineer, John Tassie, who built the last 6 km of the road leading out of the mountain pass into Prince Albert. At the same time, Bain was also in charge of the construction of the Schoemanspoort pass that connects the Swartberg pass with Oudtshoorn. Bain's last road building project was the construction of Victoria road in 1887 that connects Cape Town with
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190:. As a prolific road building pioneer, Bain was responsible for the planning and construction of more than 900 km of roads and mountain passes, many of them still in use today, over a career spanning from 1848 until 1888. These passes through the mountain ranges between the thin coastal plain and the interior of the former Cape Colony in South Africa, played a major role in opening up the vast hinterland of South Africa.
226:(Surveyor-General, Civil Engineer and Superintendent of Works) and John Montagu (British Colonial Secretary for the Cape Colony) introduced an ambitious road building program. Their goal was achieved by the father-and-son combination of Andrew and Thomas Bain, whose civil engineering prowess effected a quantum leap in the quality and range of the road network of the 19th-century Cape Colony.
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272:. The project was started in 1867 and took 15 years to complete. This road linked Knysna to the more developed areas towards Cape Town and replaced the dreaded river crossing at Kaaimansgat which early travelers described with trepidation. This project was followed by a series of passes across the Langeberg and Outeniqua mountain ranges. These passes include the Robinson,
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276:, Garcia and Burgers Passes as well as the Kogmanskloof road. Then followed the 185 km Tsitsikama road, linking the western and eastern portions of the Cape Colony through the indigenous forests of the coastal plain. This road involved the crossing of major ravines, including the Grootriver, Bobbejaansriver, Bloukransriver and Stormsriver gorges.
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Bain and his six brothers and six sisters were educated largely at home like most settlers' children of that period. The children's education was interrupted by the outbreak of the War of the Axe in 1846, one of several frontier wars that raged during that era. Thomas served as a volunteer in the war
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In 1888 Bain resigned from the Road
Department and accepted the position of Irrigation and Geological Surveyor of the (Cape) Colony. His prolific career with the Road Department resulted in a remarkable heritage of some of the most scenic and impressive mountain passes in South Africa. He continued
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He married
Johanna Hermina de Smidt in 1854. They had 13 children and enjoyed a long and happy marriage. Johanna was the ninth child of Willem de Smidt, the Secretary of the Central Road Board. Georgina Bain (16 November 1860 Knysna – 6 December 1954), one of his daughters, married the Conservator
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In March 1873 Bain was appointed as district engineer in the
Railway Department. Due to a lack of a suitable candidate to fill the position in the Road Department that he vacated, he rejoined the Road Department after 18 months. In 1877 he became an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
238:. After passing first in the Government examinations in 1854, he was promoted to Roads Inspector for the Western Province. Thomas and his father's careers as road builders continued to be intertwined until Andrew's death in 1864.
261:. Bain's first road construction project as newly promoted Roads Inspector was Grey's Pass (renamed Piekenierskloof pass after it was reconstructed in 1958), completed in 1858, that opened up the Olifantsriver valley to the
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Thomas served his apprenticeship from 1848 to 1854 as his father's assistant in the capacity of
Assistant Inspector of Roads. In this capacity he was involved in the construction of Michell's Pass near
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in the second half of the 1800s. His father built eight during the first half of the same century. One of the few passes in South Africa not built by a Bain during that period was
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his prolific work tempo in his new capacity until his death. During his tenure he designed and completed a large reservoir, the
Verkeerdevlei reservoir, amongst other projects.
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Seven Passes road (after number of passes along route) from George to Knysna, 75 km long, ending in the
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One of Bain's major achievements was the construction of the road on the coastal plain between George and the forestry town of
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Bain was born in 1830 at Graaff Reinet, at that stage a frontier town in the Cape Colony in
Southern Africa. His father,
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and helped to guard women and children who sheltered in the church of the frontier town of Fort
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Bain's crowning achievement was the Swartberg Pass that connects
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Verlaten Kloof Pass from Sutherland to Matjiesfontein -1877
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across the neck between Table Mountain and Signal Hill.
504:"Rooihoogte Pass (R318) - Mountain Passes South Africa"
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Robinson Pass (after Chief Inspector of Public Works,
525:- Graham Ross (David Phillips Publishers, Cape Town)
421:Koo Pass or Burger's Pass (after Koodoosberg) near
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186:– 29 September 1893) was a South African road
438:Cogmans, Kogmans or Kockemans Kloof (after a
393:Tradouw Pass (Boschkloof, Southey Pass) near
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
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561:South African people of British descent
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241:Bain built 24 major mountain roads and
404:to Ladismith, 18 km long 1873–77
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341:Seweweekspoort (thought to be after
44:adding citations to reliable sources
523:The Romance of Cape Mountain Passes
324:Grey's Pass near Citrusdal (after
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212:Reminiscences of Georgina Lister
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360:Prince Alfred's Pass (after
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234:and Bainskloof pass near
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124:Thomas Charles John Bain
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472:Grootrivier Pass at
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456:from Oudtshoorn to
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408:Pakhuis Pass
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38:Please help
33:verification
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551:1893 deaths
546:1830 births
442:clan) from
412:Clanwilliam
540:Categories
509:23 October
489:References
432:1875–1877
402:Riversdale
388:Mossel Bay
384:Oudtshoorn
351:Laingsburg
285:Oudtshoorn
251:Oudtshoorn
236:Wellington
170:Occupation
145:1830-09-30
66:newspapers
425:1875–1877
416:Cederberg
395:Barrydale
370:Uniondale
355:Swartberg
345:preacher
289:Camps Bay
263:Swartland
259:Australia
194:Biography
440:Khoikhoi
353:through
188:engineer
481:on the
448:Montagu
430:Montagu
423:Montagu
418:1875–77
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243:passes
218:Career
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