e-mosty June 2019 Richard Cooke on Bridges | Page 52

A COMMUNITY APPROACH TO
ENABLING SUSTAINABLE FOOTBRIDGES
By Matthew Bowser, P.Eng., and Débora Bowser, M.Sc.
Bridging the Gap Africa
ABSTRACT
This paper introduces a community footbridge
program in Kenya that is facilitated by Bridging the
Gap Africa, a non-profit organization that partners
with rural isolated communities to enable safe access
over dangerous rivers.
Background information on the organization is
provided followed by a general update on Bridging the
Gap Africa’s technical program.
The development of a standardized short span
suspension bridge is presented along with a brief
overview of the recently completed 55m span
Oltulelei Suspension Bridge near the Masai Mara
region of Kenya.
Implementation of the Vetiver System as a bio-
engineered method for river bank protection is also
presented in the form of a case study for a recent trial
site in Western Kenya.
The paper concludes with a lesson learned with
respect to how understanding socio-economic factors
are important to promote successful bridge projects
in rural communities.
BACKGROUND
Over the past 20 years Bridging the Gap Africa has
enabled 63 footbridges throughout East Africa.
We are a non-profit organization that believes rural
marginalized communities should not suffer due to
the separation caused by dangerous rivers.
The footbridges that we enable save lives by
preventing accidental drownings and animal attacks
while bringing social change by increasing access to
education, health care, and economic opportunity.
Financial support for our bridge program comes
primarily through corporate and private donors in the
United States and Canada.
2/2019
Our bridge program is founded on the principle of
partnering with communities to enable their bridge.
This is made possible through a strong in-country
team of skilled Kenyan workers that form the core
of our operations.
In Kenya, we have a Graduate Engineer (equivalent
to the EIT designation in North America) that assists
with design and project management and a Team of
skilled tradesmen that consist of superintendents,
foremen, ironworkers, carpenters, concrete
finishers, and masons.
This core Team prepares for bridge builds at our
operational base in western Kenya by fabricating
structural steel, bending rebar, and preparing
concrete formwork.
The core Team then travels to each bridge site
where we partner with communities by hiring a
local group of workers who become the bridge
crew.
Our hope is that with this model we are taking steps
towards making our role as a non-profit redundant.
With the skills required to design, build, and manage
these footbridge existing entirely within Kenya, the
only missing component for future projects would
be funding.
With time, it is our hope that funding for this
infrastructure would come entirely from within the
country.
The technical program at Bridging the Gap Africa is
supported by a group of several volunteer
Professional Engineers from consulting companies
such as WSP, HNTB, JACOBS, and others.