Johannesburg’s award-winning Nelson Mandela Bridge presides as a blue-lit sentinel over the inner city, connecting the city’s older streets with newer areas. It is an iconic symbol of reconciliation and an architectural and engineering accomplishment.

This Johannesburg landmark symbolically links the old and new as it ushers traffic into the heart of rejuvenated downtown Johannesburg, and into Newtown from Braamfontein. The bridge, which spans the railway that separates Newtown and Braamfontein, near the city’s central business district, was built in 2003 at a cost of R83-million.

Once constructed, it formed the centrepiece of a R300-million inner city renewal project driven by the province’s economic development initiative at the time, Blue IQ.

The bridge was constructed by the South African National Roads Agency Limited with the help of the Johannesburg Development Agency, which managed and oversaw the professional construction, design and engineering teams.

It is 42m high at the north pylon and 27m high at the south pylon. At 295m long, it accommodates two lanes of traffic in either direction, with reserved lanes for pedestrians and cyclists, as it is located in the commuter hub of Johannesburg. Designed by architectural firm Dissing and Weitling, it is the biggest cable-stayed bridge in Southern Africa.