We are very pleased to share that the 55-meter span Oltulelei suspension bridge is nearly complete!  

 

Our Kenyan Team has done an outstanding job and the community is extremely pleased and impressed with their new bridge. Our local bridge crew estimates that there will be over 1,000 people crossing this bridge every week on market day alone. And to emphasize how important this bridge is, heavy rains upstream caused a flash flood in the river... a literal wall of water came barreling down.  It was a sobering experience to watch the power and force of the rushing water.  We stood on the river bank and watched a young boy cross the river while his father had no choice but to turn around to avoid getting swept downstream. It was market day and as we watched, more than 20 people were stuck on the "far side" of the river.  We were later told that there around 80 people who had to spend the night on the far side. The next morning the river finally dropped enough for them to cross. Our local community facilitator found accommodations and dinner for the young boy and he reunited with his father the next day, but it was an intense first-hand view for us of what not only this community, but many other Kenyan communities face as part of daily life in a walking world.

 

The Oltulelei Community bridge marks a significant milestone for us at BtGA as this is the first bridge in which an active erosion mitigation plan has been developed and implemented. Rapid erosion of river banks is currently a big threat to BtGA footbridges and the problem is often made worse by the movement of livestock on the river banks.  At the Oltulelei site we planted over 5,000 slips of vetiver grass as a bio-engineered system to strengthen the river bank and installed 300m of fencing to keep livestock away from the bridge. In addition, the community hired a full time "bridge keeper" who will be responsible for educating the community about the damage that livestock do when they are permitted to graze and move their animals on the river bank.   

 

A very sincere thank you to WSP in Canada and all of the 2017 BE A BRIDGE donors for your support in the installation of this bridge! We are also incredibly grateful for all of the logistical support provided to our team by Cottars 1920's Safari's.