Victoria Falls
The
Mosi-oa-Tunya (or Victoria) falls are formed as the full width of the
river plummets in a single vertical drop into a transverse chasm 1708
meters (5604 ft) wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the
basalt plateau. The depth of the chasm, called the First Gorge, varies
from 80 meters (262 ft) at its western end to 108 meters (360 ft) in the
center. The only outlet
to the First
Gorge is a 110-meter-wide (360 ft) gap about two-thirds of the way
across the width of the falls from the western end, through which the
whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges.
European settlement of the Victoria Falls area started around 1900 in
response to the desire of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company for
mineral rights and imperial rule north of the Zambezi, and the
exploitation of other natural resources such as timber forests
north-east of the falls, and ivory and animal skins. Before 1905, the
river was crossed above the falls at the Old Drift, by dugout canoe or a
barge towed across with a steel cable. Rhodes' vision of a Cape-Cairo
railway drove plans for the first bridge across the Zambezi and he
insisted it be built where the spray from the falls would fall on
passing trains, so the site at the Second Gorge was chosen. From 1905
the railway offered accessible travel to whites from as far as the Cape
in the south and from 1909, as far as the Belgian Congo in the north.
The falls became an increasingly popular attraction during British
colonial rule of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe), with the town of Victoria Falls becoming the main tourist
center.
There are two islands on the crest of the falls that
are large enough to divide the curtain of water even at full flood:
Boaruka Island (or Cataract Island) near the western bank, and
Livingstone Island near the middle - the place that David Livingstone
first saw the falls from in Zambia. At less than full flood, additional
islets divide the curtain of water into separate parallel streams. The
main streams are named, in order from Zimbabwe (west) to Zambia (east):
Devil's Cataract (called Leaping Water by some), Main Falls, Rainbow
Falls (the highest) and the Eastern Cataract.
The Victoria
Falls bridge, constructed by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company,
took just 14 months to build and was completed in 1905. The bridge was
officially opened by Professor George Darwin, son of Charles Darwin.
Constructed from steel, the bridge is 198 meters (650 ft) long, with a
main arch spanning 156.50 meters (513.5 ft), at a height of 128 meters
(420 ft) above the lower water mark of the river in the gorge below. It
carries a road, railway and pedestrian walkway. The bridge is the only
rail link between Zambia and Zimbabwe and one of only three road links
between the two countries.
