The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River near the Victory Falls and was built over the second gorge downstream of the falls.
The Zambezi River is the borderline between Zambia and Zimbabwe, so the bridge connects the two countries and the cities of Livingstone in Zambia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and at the two ends there are their respective border posts; nowadays it is the only railway bridge that joins the two countries, while it is one of the three bridges accessible by car.
The bridge measures 198 meters in total, it has a single 156.5-meter parabolic arch without supporting piles and it is located at a height of 128 meters.
The Victoria Falls Bridge is the result of Cecil Rhodes' intelligence and was part of its colossal, and never fully realized, project of linking by railroad, Cape Town, in today's South Africa, to Cairo in Egypt.
Cecil Rhodes explicitly asked that the bridge was built "where the trains, when they pass, are struck by the splash of the waterfall". Rhodes not only never visited the Victoria Falls but could not even see his work realized since he died before the construction of the bridge began.
The bridge was designed by George Andrew Hobson with the help of Ralph Freedman who in the following years also worked on the Sydney Harbor Bridge project; it was built in England and then shipped by boat and reached the coast of Mozambique, hence it was brought to the destination using the newly constructed railway line.
For more than 50 years the bridge was traversed by passenger trains and connected the then North Rhodesia, the present Zambia, to other South African countries, such as South Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, and the South African Union, the current South Africa.
Following the self-proclamation of independence by South Rhodesia and the civil war that followed, the bridge was closed several times in the years following these events; it was reopened permanently only in 1980.
Today, besides connecting the two neighboring countries, it has also become an attraction for tourists for several reasons: you can take part in a guided tour that illustrates the stages of the bridge construction and allows access to a catwalk below the span of the bridge for a thrill ride; in addition, for adrenaline lovers, you can practice bungee jumping or cross the throat, from one end to the other, with a zip-line.
From the top of the bridge you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the gorge below with the Zambesi River flowing impetuously between rocky walls; the bridge is 125 meters above the river and you need to be brave to look out.
