Kruger National Park, South Africa – Suspended 25 meters above the Sabie River, Kruger Shalati is an extraordinary feat of engineering, adaptive reuse, and architectural brilliance. This groundbreaking project has transformed a historic railway bridge into a luxury safari retreat—seamlessly blending heritage preservation with modern innovation. With no precedent for such an undertaking, the journey from concept to completion required meticulous planning, bold engineering solutions, and an unwavering commitment to sustainability.
A Train Reborn: Engineering the Future Through Adaptive Reuse
Thirteen rusted train carriages, once abandoned in Transnet’s train graveyard at Danskraal, Ladysmith, were salvaged for the Kruger Shalati project. The goal was authenticity—incorporating carriages that had once traversed South African railways, infusing a more profound historical connection into this iconic destination. Transporting these relics to Johannesburg required precision, with each carriage carefully separated from its bogies before arriving at the steel workshop for refurbishment.
The project’s engineering efforts were led by concept engineer Alan McVitty, with project manager Keith Stannard overseeing operations. Patrick Gore managed the steel workshop, ensuring structural integrity, while Les le Roux and his team handled the intricate interior refurbishment. Creative director and interior designer Andrea Kleinloog brought the design vision to life, ensuring a seamless fusion of heritage and contemporary luxury. Their teams faced an immense task: transforming dilapidated rail cars into five-star luxury suites while preserving the integrity of their original structures.
Overcoming Structural Challenges in Refurbishment
Refurbishing the carriages was no small feat. The construction team spent weeks strategizing how to repair gaping holes in the floors and roofs, reinforce 150 grommets and drainage holes, and—most critically—waterproof the stationary train. Unlike a moving train, which naturally repels water, a static train risks water pooling. Engineering solutions had to be developed to prevent moisture ingress while maintaining the original profile of the carriages.
One of the most critical structural challenges arose when lifting the carriages for transport. With the added weight of modern reinforcements, engineers feared that each carriage might buckle when lifted onto a flatbed trailer. Calculations confirmed their concerns, prompting a full-scale test. A horizontal chalk line was drawn along a carriage’s length before two gantry cranes lifted it. Upon lowering it back down, measurements revealed only a 3 mm deflection, proving the structure’s resilience. This discovery confirmed that the original railcar design had anticipated such lifts, ensuring safe transportation to their final destination in the Kruger.
Managing Bridge Expansion: Engineering a Floating Hotel
While refurbishment progressed, an equally complex challenge loomed—the structural dynamics of the century-old bridge itself. Built-in the Pratt Girder Design, the bridge spans the Sabie River with a network of stone masonry piers and concrete cores. As a steel structure, it expands and contracts with temperature fluctuations—as much as 50 mm per bridge section on hot days. This movement posed a significant problem: how could the carriages remain securely positioned while accommodating daily bridge expansion?
“With a 50mm expansion per bridge section on hot days, we needed a system that accommodated movement without compromising stability,” explains McVitty. His solution was a vesconite bearing system with custom nylon spacers, allowing the bridge girder and the newly constructed walkway to move independently—preventing structural stress.
Yet another challenge remained: securing the carriages while allowing necessary movement. The breakthrough lay in locking only one bogie per carriage. The bogie nearest to each bridge’s fixed bearing was secured with a steel wedge, while the opposite bogie remained free to move with the bridge’s expansion and contraction. This delicate balance ensured that the carriages remained stable without compromising the historical integrity of the bridge—achieving an engineering solution that met both safety and heritage conservation standards.
Preserving History, Designing the Future
As the final piece of the puzzle, the interiors needed to complement the industrial heritage of the carriages while offering a world-class luxury experience. Andrea Kleinloog and her team meticulously reimagined the interiors, ensuring that every detail—from locally sourced wood to the bespoke fittings—respected the carriages’ historical essence while delivering contemporary comfort. The result is a timeless fusion of past and present, where travellers can immerse themselves in the grandeur of yesteryear while enjoying cutting-edge luxury in the heart of the wild.
A Testament to Excellence
Kruger Shalati is more than a hotel; it is a testament to what can be achieved when architectural vision, structural innovation, and historical preservation intersect. The project not only honours the past, paying homage to the early 1920s rail travellers who first explored the Kruger National Park but also sets a new benchmark in luxury travel design.
The train, permanently stationed on the historically rich Selati Bridge, opened in 2020 as an immersive retreat that allows guests to experience the untamed beauty of the African wilderness from a unique vantage point—one that has stood for over a century but now, thanks to cutting-edge engineering, has been reimagined for generations to come.