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Before

After

Why bridges?It is estimated that 900 million people in developing countries do not have reliable year-round access to road networks. The United Nations has reported that for nearly 50 percent of the world’s population living in rural isolation, the lack of transportation infrastructure access reinforces the cycle of poverty.

By focusing solely on footbridge construction and training, Bridges to Prosperity’s community-driven projects build sustainable bridges that help provide basic access for community residents to healthcare, education and local commercial markets.

Our commitmentWith a commitment to building sustainable communities and engaging the technical expertise of our employees, the CH2M HILL Foundation awarded a US$50,000 grant to Bridges to Prosperity in late 2013 to fund construction of two long-span cable supported pedestrian bridges in Panama, one of which was to be built by CH2M HILL volunteers.

From the 73 applications received, a global team of 11 transportation employees from Australia, Canada, UAE, UK, and USA were selected and participated in three months of preparatory calls, design and constructability reviews. In June 2014, the team arrived in La Conga, Panama to begin working with the local community and Bridges to Prosperity staff.

Resulting impact… pathway to human progress• Safe crossing for 200 community members

• Kids can get to school

• Parents can get their children to health clinics

• Mothers can access local markets and shops

• Fathers can use local transportation to get to jobs

Team MissionOur mission was to build a 45-meter suspension bridge across the Rio Trinidad connecting the rural communities of La Conga and La Florida in only 8 days. We needed to collaborate as a team, and most important, involve local community members for ownership and technology transfer.

A CH2M HILL Foundation partnership with Bridges to Prosperity

Pathway to Human Progress in Panama

© 2014 CH2M HILL Foundation COR050114002851DEN

Learn more at bridgestoprosperity.org and www.ch2mhillfoundation.org.

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Panama City

La Conga

• Arrived in La Conga• Setup camp and met community

• Assembled two steel towers• Erected one tower right at sunset• Bent all of the rebar for the suspenders• Hauled in several truckloads of lumber for bridge decking

• Unraveled the massive cable spool (4 metric tons)• Anchored first tower • Erected second tower• Filled hole on La Conga side of the river

• Filled a 5-6 feet deep U-shaped pit with rocks and soil • Completed QC on all suspenders • Set the tower saddles

• Raised and set the cables• Anchored crossbeams to suspenders

• Hoisted the crossbeams and suspenders onto the main cable• Staged and completed QC of lumber for decking

• Began decking• Completed

final QC • Completed decking• Installed fencing and hand rail• INAUGURATION

DAY2

DAY3

DAY4

DAY5

DAY6

DAY7

DAY8

DAY1

Timeline 8 Days from Start to Finish!

Lessons learned:• Collaboration

• On-the-ground engineering

• Thinking outside the box

• Mentoring

• Leadership

• Dynamic problem-solving

• Have fun and encourage one another

Nuts and bolts of building a bridge• 115 boards

• 90 suspenders

• 40 bolts

• 690 lag bolts to secure the decking

• 45 crossbeams

• 270 lag bolts for the crossbeams

• 360 meters of 1 1/8” cable installed

• 360 meters of ¼” cable installed

• 384 small cable clamps

• 44 large cable clamps

• 135 m2 of fencing

“I have been designing bridges for more than 20 years, but this is the first project where I actually understand what a bridge really is.”

~ Tomas, team member

© 2014 CH2M HILL Foundation COR050114002851DEN

Learn more at bridgestoprosperity.org and www.ch2mhillfoundation.org.