The Chain Ladders

Thank you Tony - much appreciated!
Apologies for not posting under the correct topic - I sometimes find these old-style forums a bit difficult to navigate.

I had seen your posts about the fantastic work you did repairing the chain ladders and hoped that you would respond to my query  ..

Do you perhaps know anything about the repair of the Tugela Gorge chain ladder? It is officially closed but hikers are using it at own risk.

  

No problem, that is fine, it's just that these posts fit better into that topic.

Thanks, it was fun doing the repair, and great to do something to benefit the hiking community.

Neil and I were approached to quote to replace the Tugela Gorge chain ladder, and we put quite a lot of work into our quotation, but we have not had a response from EKZNW, the main issue being that the Officer in Charge at RNNP has changed and the new OIC is not the one who requested the quote. 

For now the Tugela Gorge chain ladder is still okay to use at your own risk, it is not likely to fail or collapse suddenly, but take obvious precautions like only one person on the ladder at a time and gentle steps not rough handling on the ladder etc.

After doing the repair of the chain ladder anchor in August 2021, Neil Margetts and I had various discussions with Witsieshoek Lodge to do some improvements to the path to the chain ladders. The lodge felt some responsibility to implement some safety improvements after various feedback from day hikers and foreign tourists was received, but weren’t sure what to do or where the priorities were. Another company, specialising in access safety, did an inspection and risk assessment in wet weather using some experienced hikers, and the risk assessment identified six places to receive safety improvements, in addition to something more being necessary at the short fixed ladder already installed on the route. These places were used to define a scope of work for us, as well as some signage and arrow markings, and we were asked to provide a proposal, using a simple but functional solution, and costing to implement the proposal. In June 2022 we did an assessment of these places, taking measurements for chains and steps to be installed, and shortly thereafter submitted our proposal. 

It took a while for Witsieshoek to secure funding to do the work, having accepted our proposal, and in mid 2023 we had further discussions to implement the proposals which were unfortunately delayed by my fall and injuries in August. By October I was recovered well enough to estimate that by the end of November I would be strong enough to do the work, and so the path improvements were scheduled to be done during the last week of November, which also gave us enough time to get all the materials we needed ready. 

Luca Brice, a hiking friend, joined me to do the work at the end of November, and we estimated it would take 3 or 4 days, although to be sure and to allow for weather delays we had planned with Witsieshoek to be there for up to 5 days. We were able to do all the work in three days, but had to return on the fourth day to remove notices we had put on the steps we epoxied in on the third day, requesting people not to use them as the epoxy was still drying. Luca has not done much hiking in the Drakensberg, so we used the opportunity to go to the top of the Tugela Falls on the fourth day, so that he could experience being there and using the chain ladders. 

The photos show the improvements we did, as per the request from Witsieshoek in line with their risk assessment. 

At the first place we installed a chain to hold onto, where some concrete lintols had been added to the path and there is quite a drop off below the lintols.  

 

Another view from the other side, after Luca had cut off the excess length of chain with the angle grinder, and yes, he does do most of his hiking in those slops.  

 

At the next place we put in some steps and handles to assist hikers to get up or down an awkward rock step, and painted arrows to indicate this is the way. Most hikers go past on the right of this, as shown at the bottom right in the photo below, but this way leads to a side sloping slab of rock which is dangerous in wet weather.  

 

The third place was the short ladder, where we added two steps below the ladder to make it safer to get to the ladder from the paved path below. Over the years the soil on the rock has eroded away, and the bottom of the ladder is much higher above the path now than when it was originally installed.  

 
 

The next place is a slanting rock slab, where we installed a chain to hold onto, for people who are worried about slipping when the rock is wet, although the rock surface has a good texture and several footholds.  

 

The fifth place is an inclined rock slope, also where the path has eroded away over the years, and hikers walk on a narrow ledge above a significant drop off, where we installed steps to get up onto the ledge easily, and a chain to hold onto above the ledge. Some tourists used the steps and chain in the photos below. The short piece of chain linking the chain to the top step is so that the chain is never out of reach from the steps.  

The last two places are close together and quite similar, low sloping rock slabs which are often wet, and where questionable grass tufts and muddy ground are used as steps. At the one we installed two steps.  

 

At the other one we installed three steps.  

 
 

The other work we did was to install signage and arrows at relevant places on the zig zags of the path from the car park to the base of Sentinel Peak. Here it is observed that many hikers make or use short cuts, and there is a general confusion over which is the main, correct path to use. We installed signs at either end, requesting hikers to stay on the path, no entry signs at the shortcuts, and arrows to show the correct path. It is very noticeable that there are no notices or signs requesting hikers to stay on the main path, so maybe it’s not surprising that many make and use the short cuts. Hopefully these new signs will help, although no doubt there will be many who don’t even read them, and those who ignore them. 

The sign at the car park end of the path, with the Witches and Sentinel Peak in the background.  

 
 

The no entry signs at one of the short cuts, the returning tourists in the photo were very pleased and thought this was very helpful, and told us that they had struggled to find the right path on their way to the chain ladders earlier that day. We also painted white arrows near all the no entry signs to indicate the correct path to use.

 

White painted arrows at one of the zig zags.  

 

The sign at the Sentinel end of the zig zags.  

 

It was very satisfying to do this work, and we hope the improvements will benefit many hikers. The feedback we got from hikers passing along the path as we did the work was very positive, and we were quite surprised to see how many used the chain on the ledge with the drop off. It was also great to stay in the accommodation at Witsieshoek, and enjoy breakfast and dinner in the restaurant, and packed lunches while doing the work. 

tonymarshall wrote:

Great work Tony and Luca! The chain on this spot is a great addition - I've been using the alternative trail from the red ladder to just below Sentinel Standard Route since 2015 because of that. It's fine when its dry, but it feels very dangerous when wet.

I am aware of the bypass path, and have used it a few times, it bypasses five of the places where we did improvements, but because most hikers use the path where the improvements were done, we decided to rather do the improvements than try to get everyone to use the other path. 

Space constraints limited my photos in the earlier posts, but here are a few more photos of the place with the ledge as we did the work, and of a large group passing just after we installed the chain and first steps. They couldn’t use the steps because the epoxy was not set, and we had placed a notice written on a piece of wood on the steps not to use them, so they entered the ledge from the far left. It was noticeable how nervous some were on the left section of the ledge before they could use the chain, even with their guide standing below near the steps and directing them.

Awesome work you are doing Tony. If you ever need an extra pair of hands for such work, please let me know. 

Thanks Tony and crew, well done.  Am happy about the signage being put up near the zigzags.  If u don’t do this route regularly, u end up scratching your head about which path to choose, and then still not knowing if it is right.  Always slows u down in those circumstances!

Excellent work on the improvements! Does anyone here know the history of the construction of the paved route from the parking area two the chain ladders?

Most of the work of the paved route was done in 2018. The paving was planned by Witsieshoek and the Afromontane Research Unit of the University of the Free State, with major inputs by Ralph Clark of the Afromontane Research Unit. At about the same time, the new building at Sentinel Car Park was constructed. 

The projects were funded by government departments, the path by the Department of Environmental Affairs, and the building by the Department of Tourism, if I remember this correctly. Unfortunately, as things go, the Departments responsible for the funding were also responsible for the planning, issue of tenders, award of contracts, and site supervision, project/contract management etc, so there were some major glitches in these projects, most notably the poor level of site supervision and standard of work, and the allocated money running out before the planned work was completed. As part of the paving of the path, the chain ladders were also supposed to be replaced, but this never happened. The chain ladders were ‘closed’ for months for replacement, at great inconvenience to hikers, but the money ran out and they were never replaced. Perhaps this was a good thing, as I don’t even want to imagine what unsuitable type of ladders might now be there if they had been replaced. Much of the fence constructed to prevent hikers taking shortcuts on the zig zags has also collapsed, largely because the fence poles were not planted deep enough, no doubt because of the difficulty of excavating into the rock and the contractor took short cuts on this, which weren’t noticed or corrected by the site supervision. 

The building at Sentinel Car Park, which was intended as accommodation for hikers and guests, was also poorly constructed, and has never been brought into use. Part of the ceiling has already collapsed, and other building defects are easily visible. A major problem is that because the road to Sentinel Car Park is in such a poor condition, water cannot be transported to the building. With hindsight it would have been much better to upgrade the worst sections of the road, than construct the building, as the water problem is a major issue, as is the road access to the building for anyone who may want to use it. 

I have close contact with Witsieshoek, having done repairs on the broken chain ladder, and improvements to the path, which is how I have gleaned this information. As a civil engineer with more than 35 years engineering and construction experience, I am well positioned to comment on the construction shortcomings, although I no longer work in engineering or construction. I am also interested and available to do further repairs to the chain ladders, which will be adequate to extend their useable life, without replacement being necessary, but funding for these repairs is not yet available. Improvements to the road are also planned, but can only be done when funding is allocated, which may not be soon.

More information on the paving of the path can be found in the Mt Aux Sources – Amphitheatre – Tugela thread from posts during 2018.