OUR TRIP

Our student group traveled to the Charazani province of Bolivia in May 2014 to build a 42 meter span permanent suspended footbridge in a small village in the Andes. We worked with locals to construct the bridge that would grant them access to medical supplies, schools, and markets found in the nearby village during the rainy season as none of these essentials reside within the village itself. Previously the villagers were crossing old tree trunks precariously placed along the river bed.

It all started once we heard about the village's need for a pedestrian bridge from our parent organization in August 2013. After we just successfully completed a footbridge in Palca, we were determined to help impact another community in need. We immediately began designing the bridge, performing calculations to determine the span and materials we needed. We researched the region's weather and geography to make sure that our bridge would allow access to local resources no matter how much rain was in the basin. Our work and collaboration continued throughout the year until our designs were approved for construction.