Engineering Chapman's Peak Drive

Sir Frederic De Waal, first administrator of the Cape, ordered the construction of the Hout Bay- Noordhoek Road in the early 1900s. Despite the steep unstable cliffs and ravines, the road was cleverly planned with the road surface based on the solid and conveniently located 540 million year old Cape Granite, while the many roadside cuttings were carved out of the more workable Graafwater Formation (Table Mountain Group) sandstones and mudstones, which are about 490 million years old.