Thank You!

Just wanted to take a moment and dedicate a final post to everyone out there for your support throughout the entire project.  From start to finish, your kind words, enthusiasm, and encouragement kept us going.  On behalf of Peace Corps, the entire project team, and the communities of Nchomekah, Campir, and Bandar, we are sincerely grateful.

Thank you! Obrigado! Nihoshukuru!

Completed Bridge!

We're done!  After three months and lots of hard labor, we've successfully completed our bridge. Here are some shots of the final product!

Approach Ramp - Bandar

Just like the approach on the Nchomekah side, construction of the ramp on the Bandar Side was a step-by-step process.  Due to issues with anchor, the design of this rmap was changed and ultimately ended up being significantly larger than the ramp on the other side. Essentially this just meant that more rock and fill, and thus more time was required to complete it.  Here are some pictures:

Approach Ramp - Nchomekah

Construction of the ramp happened over the entire course of the project.  First step was to build the walls, which you've been able to see in other pictures thus far.  The masonry team had some downtime between finishing the tiers and putting up the towers, so we got them start on constructing the ramp walls.  With the walls built, we were set to fill them in with rock and sand.  Before we could do this though, the compression struts and anchors needed to be poured. Once all the base work (compression struts and anchor) was done and the initial filling was thrown in, the cables had to be strung and the sag set so that the filling could be properly placed around the taught cables.  We filled until just below the rim of the ramp walls, put a layer of rocks topped with a layer of sand, and finally capped the ramp with a layer of concrete. Here are some pictures of the process as well as the finished product on the Nchomekah side.

Decking!

Making the bridge a real bridge!  Today we installed the decking with the help of some friends...