Thomas Charles John Bain
Encyclopedia
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n road engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, the son of Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain , South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.-Life history:...
, also a road engineer in South Africa.
Biography
Bain served as his father's assistant in the constructionConstruction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
of Michell's Pass. After passing first in the Government examinations in 1854, he was appointed road inspector. He built 24 major mountain roads and passes
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
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 Montagu Pass
Montagu Pass
Montagu Pass, Is situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa, on the Regional road between Herold and George.The pass was named after John Montagu, Colonial Secretary of the Cape in the 1840's, whose enthusiasm for good roads resulted for the first ambitious program of construction in...
from George to Oudtshoorn, which was built by a road engineer from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
named Henry Fancourt White in 1843-47.
Construction Projects
- Meiring's Poort (after local farmer Petrus Johannes Meiring), 16km long 1854-58
- Grey's Pass near Citrusdal (after Sir George Grey), 11km long 1857-58 (Piekenier's Kloof 1958)
- Tulbagh Kloof (after the town of TulbaghTulbaghTulbagh is a town in the Tulbagh valley and is situated in the Witzenberg Local Municipality, with the valley called "Die Land van Waveren" locally. Closest towns are Wolseley, Prince Alfred's Hamlet, Gouda and Ceres in the Boland district of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.The valley has...
), 5km long 1859-60 - Seweweekspoort (thought to be after Berlin Mission Society preacher Louis Zerwick) from LaingsburgLaingsburg, Western Cape- History :Laingsburg was first established in the 1870s by Stephanus Greeff. He bought the farm Vischkuil-aan-de-Buffelsrivier . The town only started developing when the railway line to it was completed...
through SwartbergSwartbergThe Swartberg mountains make up a mountain range that runs roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo in the Western Cape province of South Africa...
, 17km long 1859-62
- Prince Alfred's Pass (after Prince AlfredAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
) from KnysnaKnysnaKnysna is a town with 76,431 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and is part of the Garden Route. It lies 34 degrees south of the equator, and is 72 kilometres east from the town of George on the N2 highway, and 25 kilometres west of Plettenberg Bay on the same road.-History:A...
to UniondaleUniondale, Western CapeUniondale is a small town in the Little Karoo in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The town was formed in 1856 by the joining of two towns, Hopedale and Lyons. Its primary claim to fame is the ghost story of the Uniondale hitcher...
, 70km long 1863-67 - Seven Passes road (after number of passes along route) from George to Knysna, 75km long, ending in the Homtini Pass near Knysna 1867-83
- Robinson Pass (after Chief Inspector of Public Works, Murrell Robinson) from Oudtshoorn to Mossel BayMossel BayMossel Bay is a harbour town of about 130,000 people on the Southern Cape of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province...
1867-69 - Tradouw Pass (Boschkloof, Southey Pass) near BarrydaleBarrydaleBarrydale is a village located on the border of the Overberg and Klein Karoo regions of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. Named after James Barry, it is situated at the northern end of the Tradouw's pass which winds its way through the mountains to Swellendam.-History:Barrydale's history...
, 13km long 1869-73 - Garcia's Pass (after Maurice Garcia) from RiversdaleRiversdale, Western CapeRiversdale is a town located on the N2 highway between Cape Town and George on the Agulhas Coastal Plain of the southern Western Cape province of South Africa. It is an agricultural service orientated town, being a hub for shopping and other services for surrounding farming communities, smaller...
to Ladismith, 18km long 1873-77 - Pakhuis Pass (after Pakhuisberg, a branch of the Krakadouw Mountains) from Clanwilliam to Calvinia, CederbergCederbergThe Cederberg mountains and nature reserve are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam Cedar , which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock...
1875-77 - Koo Pass or Burger's Pass (after Koodoosberg) near Montagu 1875-1877
- Verlaten Kloof Pass from Sutherland to Matjiesfontein -1877
- Cogmans, Kogmans or Kockemans Kloof (after a KhoikhoiKhoikhoiThe Khoikhoi or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen . They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD...
clan) from Ashton to Montagu, 5km long 1873 - Swartberg Pass from Oudtshoorn to Prince AlbertPrince Albert, Western CapePrince Albert, South Africa lies on the southern edge of the Great Karoo, nestling under the majestic Swartberg mountains.- History :...
, 24km long 1880-88 (John Tassie built 6km of road from Prince Albert end) - Baviaanskloof from Willowmore to Patensie, 3km long 1880-90
- Bloukrans Pass near Nature's Valley
- Grootrivier Pass at Nature's Valley
- Storms RiverStorms RiverStorms River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located in the Tsitsikamma National Park.- See also :* Tsitsikamma National Park* Paul Sauer Bridge* List of rivers of South Africa...
Pass on the Garden RouteGarden RouteThe Garden Route is a popular stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa. It stretches from Heidelberg in the Western Cape to the Storms River which is crossed along the N2 coastal highway over the Paul Sauer Bridge in the extreme western reach of the neighbouring Eastern Cape...