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A suspension bridge in Haiti serves as a catalyst for study
Crossing a body of water is an everyday occurrence for millions of people-and it is often taken for granted. A lack of bridges in rural areas of developing countries, however, means that traveling to schools, markets, and medical centers is often hazardous for millions of others. A group called Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) is working to change this state of affairs.
B2P strives to provide greater access to education, economic opportunities, and health care by building footbridges. Founded by Ken Frantz in 2001 after seeing a National Geographic article about a collapsed bridge in Ethiopia, B2P has helped build over 100 bridges in 16 countries. Envisioning "a world where poverty caused by rural isolation no longer exists," B2P focuses on innovation, education, and empowerment to overcome obstacles as its employees and volunteers work side by side with locals, building bridges and relationships.
Recently, B2P partnered with students from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, to complete a 200 ft (61 m) suspended cable footbridge in Ti Peligre, Haiti (Fig. 1). This relationship has since expanded, spawning a B2P program with full-time employees in Haiti. Three footbridges have been completed so far, with another currently under construction.
In the process of designing the Ti Peligre bridge, Virginia Tech students organized Bridges to Prosperity at Virginia Tech (B2P@VT). The Ti Peligre bridge was designed using the B2P Suspended Bridge Design Manual (B2P Manual),1 a document with origins in the Nepalese footbridge code by Swiss-based development organization Helvetas. Although this style of cable-suspended pedestrian bridge has successfully provided service since the 1980s, B2P is continually striving for improvements in the design and construction methods. To help with this effort, B2P@VT formed a small research group consisting mostly of undergraduate engineering students.
Research Goals
To improve the quality of the final product, one of the goals of B2P@VT was to develop concrete production procedures that could easily be communicated with local workers. This transfer of knowledge would help boost the quality of the initial bridge as well as enhance the quality of future construction projects in the area.
Scales are rare in the locations where B2P is active. Concrete mixture proportions must be...