Bridges to Prosperity

Mott MacDonald and Balfour Beatty partner to support NGO Bridges to Prosperity.

In May, a project team will be travelling to Nyamasheke, Rwanda, for two weeks to build a suspended footbridge for the local community. The project team consists of five members from Mott MacDonald, and five members from Balfour Beatty.

The team selected from Mott MacDonald are:

• David Hoyle, chartered civil engineer (Logistics lead)
• Kit Wolverson, civil engineer (Communications lead)
• Andy Brigham, mechanical engineer
• Laura Ferguson, civil engineer
• Michael Bell, chartered civil engineer

Bridges to Prosperity is motivated by reducing rural isolation through creating safe access to education, medical facilities, and markets by providing communities around the world with footbridges. Their footbridges have a profound effect on people's lives - in the communities B2P has worked in, there is on average 12% more children enrolled in school, a 24% increase in healthcare treatment, a 15% increase in local business and an 18% increase in women employed.

The team will be constructing a Nyabihunyira Trailbridge, a suspended bridge with a 78m span, over the Rubyiro River which will provide safe access to a community of over 10,500 people.

The five project team members from Mott MacDonald were selected from 24 applications, back in 2020. It was a hugely difficult selection process due to the number of high-quality applications across the board. The team have started fundraising to cover their expenses and costs of travel and are looking forward to the project. If you would like to make a contribution, the donation site for the project can be found here.

For further updates on the pre-departure activities, team fundraising and ultimately the bridge build, follow the teams live progress here.