The BERRT Papers

The BERRT group is an informal group of mostly retired civil engineers, visiting different parts of South Africa to chase down, find and enjoy relics of our civil engineering history, with an emphasis on the role of the SAR&H in shaping so much of South Africa's early industrialisation. The group has been meeting for a few days every year, taking its name from the acronymn of its first trip in 2013 - the Barkly East Railway Reverses Tour. It then set itself the goal of sharing its finds with fellow engineers with at least one paper per year in the monthly Magazine of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering. The ensuing collection of papers is presented here with the permission of the SAICE Civil Engineering Magazine. Up to the end of 2024, a total of 156 pages had been published.

Issues

2013
Barkly East Reverses
2014
Kraai River Bridge
2015
Prieska to Kalkfontein Railway Line - 1

Prieska to Kalkfontein Railway Line - 2

Prieska to Kalkfontein Railway Line - 3
2016
Boscobello Reverses
2017
Railway Engineer TH Watermeyer

Waterval-Onder to Waterval-Boven Railway Line
2018
Wellington to Touwsrivier Railway Line
2019
Kaaimansrivier Railway Bridge Heritage Award

Kaaimansrivier Railway Bridge Construction
2020
Eastern Cape Bridges
2021
Roadrail in South Africa - 1

Roadrail in South Africa - 2
2023
Haifa - Beirut - Tripoli Railway Line
2024
Grain Elevators 1

Grain Elevators 2

Grain Elevators 3