Mott MacDonald Canada x Weston & Sampson 2023 Bridges to Prosperity Blog

Day 3 - A big day of moving rocks (backfilling), building scaffolding, and coating the cables to prevent corrosion. What was supposed to be a chill day turned into the hardest day so far! But the hard work is already creating strong bonds - one team, one goal! See more at instagram.com/b2pjabiro2023

Day 2 saw completion of pulling the last cable, winching all four and setting the sag. The crossbeams were also prepared with the suspenders ready for launching. Big day out on site, akazi keza! See more at instagram.com/b2pjabiro2023

Day 1 was a great success! All 4 cables were hauled across the river and 3 out of 4 cables were clamped at both ends. A start was made on the fabrication of crossbeams and suspenders, and the F value (design low point of tensioned cables) were marked on both abutments. Day 2 will consist of fully tensioning the cables using a hand winch.          See more at instagram.com/b2pjabiro2023

As the Team enters the final two weeks before travel to Rwanda for the bridge build, everyone is working on final preparations and planning.  For me, this past week has included going to a travel clinic to get all required vaccinations (Typhoid, Flu, & Tetanus), applying online for the Rwanda visa, reviewing my packing list, picking up some items to bring to the Ecole Primaire Nyarusange (primary school local to our accommodation), reviewing the bridge construction plans, and cramming in as much Kinyarwanda language studying as possible. We’ve had gear deliveries coming in for both teams with radios for communication, additional PPE, and the team t-shirts for the bridge inauguration.   To aid in communication with the local community members, we have a language practice call this week in addition to our logistics and communications call. These will be the last calls with B2P before heading to Rwanda. We are all excited and looking forward to building the bridge, experi...

The team has received confirmation on where we will be resting between build days. Our overnight accommodation for the build will be located near the city of Muhanga!  Muhanga is the fourth largest city in Rwanda and the capital and largest metropolitan area in the  district  of  Muhanga . Due to its geographical location, the city serves as the gateway to the west and south of the country. source: flickr.com - Muhanga The accommodation itself is a 30-minute drive from Muhanga, and will have cell signal, running water, and electricity.  The house  has 6 sleeping rooms in total; a dinning room and sitting room; 2 shower  rooms and 1 toilet inside the house. Nearby is a local school, grocery market and hospital.                                                                    ...

 The Weston & Sampson team includes 5 professionals from our New England offices:                                  Margaret McCarthy                 Valeria Segawa                 Bradley Randall                 Lee Roseburg                 Connor Golden We are thrilled to unveil the Banner that will be used for the Jabrio Bridge inauguration!   The team has been eagerly following the local’s communities progress on the site preparation work and we just received our Accommodations site.  We will be staying in Muhanga District, which is about a 30-minute drive on an ...

  Greetings! We are pleased to announce that our bridge site has been confirmed! We will be building the Jabiro bridge on the Miguramo river and serving nearby communities of 7,469 people!  The team will arrive on site on November 25th and are in full swing preparing for the trip!  The site is located in the southern province of Rwanda but very close to the western border. It is about a 2 hour drive West from the capital city of Kigali! It is also about half-way between Kigali and Lake Kivu - the lake on the western most edge of the country. To reach Lake Kivu from the Jabiro site would be another 2 hour drive.  Source: Bridges to Prosperity Source: Google Maps The site is quite mountainous, with a local school located at approximately 1630m elevation, and the river at approximately 1520m according to Google Maps! It will be directly serving the communities of Jabiro, Kibilizi, Ngororano, and Rwambariro nearby.  Source: FATMAP Initial construction works have beg...