Changing lives by building a bridge in Bolivia

Members of the Bridges to Prosperity team at the University of Michigan built a suspended pedestrian bridge in the village of Palca in central Bolivia. The bridge will serve approximately 250 families, helping children arrive safely to school and giving the community better access to their farm fields, markets and medical care.

The bridge-building crew. Back row, from left to right: Lois Dodson, LSA; Joseph Riley, civil engineering; Brian Wybrech, civil engineering; and alumnus Nicholas Brant. Front row, from left to right: Emily Saban and Lydia VanTimmeren, both civil engineering.

It took the team a total 25 days in May and June to complete the structure.  The bridge was the U-M group’s inaugural project for Bridges to Prosperity, a national organization that has also worked in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, Indonesia, Nepal, Timor-Leste, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Peru.