Bain’s Kloof Pass was closed again this week after another large truck illegally travelled on this historic pass.
Recovery services spent close on 12 hours on Monday to extricate yet another heavy truck from Dacre’s Pulpit (the overhanging rock with a 3,8 m height restriction).
The truck was carrying two heavy steel containers on two separate trailers. The driver entered the pass at 04:50 on Monday morning, heading towards Wellington, ignoring the height restriction warnings.
Once he realised his error he was unable to self recover when he realised he could not drive any further.
With the assistance of provincial traffic officers and recovery staff, the truck had to reverse, literally inch-by-inch, back down the pass towards Wolsley.
Despite many warnings on both sides of the pass, large trucks almost daily make illegal use of this historic pass, even though there are enough alternative routes available, which are actually much more accessible for large vehicles.
A concerned resident of Bain’s Kloof, who monitors the situation with these illegal trucks, said that the two main problems are that rookie drivers set their GPS to the “shortest route” instead of “fastest time”.
“And there is also the question around drivers trying to avoid the weigh bridges and having to pay toll fees.
“This problem is never going to go away unless the authorities take firm action.”
Bain’s Kloof Pass is a national monument within a conservation area, and it is a sensitive pass.
Extensive improvements and renovations were done to the pass a few years ago.
However, it is feared that if these heavy duty vehicles continue to drive over the pass, it will eventually sustain irreparable damage.
