e-mosty June 2018 American Bridges American Bridges | Page 60

ENGINEERING FOR DEVELOPMENT
IN THE AMERICAS
Bridges to Prosperity’s History in Latin America and the Caribbean
Alissa Smith Alan Kreisa
Director of Business Development Director of Engineering
Bridges to Prosperity Bridges to Prosperity
Many of us in the developed world cross bridges every
day – on our way to work, to school, to town centers.
We walk over them, we drive across them, and we
bike by them. a swift, impassable torrent. For the families who live
in these remote communities, a bridge can mean not
only life or death, but educational opportunity, critical
access to healthcare, and economic prosperity.
Easy, reliable access is something we take for granted,
lamenting when construction or closures impede us
or reroute us. Bridges to Prosperity is a nonprofit organization that
works with local governments and communities to
connect the rural last mile around the world. Over our
seventeen-year history, we’ve honed our cable-stayed
bridge designs and refined our technologies and
construction process for the rural environment, and
are the only organization solely focused on
transportation infrastructure as an effective and
efficient tool for development. We are committed to
beautiful, functional design, and driven by
transformative connection.
For nearly 1 billion people around the world,
however, a lack of access to essential services is a
daily reality. In the remote, rural farmlands of
countries like Bolivia, Nicaragua, or Peru, residents are
isolated from health clinics, schools, markets, jobs,
and government services for days, sometimes
months, at a time.
Heavy rains swell rivers, and what once was a slowly-
moving stream that could be crossed on foot becomes
Figure 1: School children crossing a river during
the dry season in Panama
Figure 2: A young man crosses the Rio Abajo
suspension bridge in Nicaragua
2/2018