Go Behind the Scenes of our 2024 Rwanda Bridge Build

Last month ten of #OurJacobs teammates traveled to Rwanda to build a bridge across the Mutumba River alongside non-profit Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). This is the third bridge Jacobs has built in Rwanda, but first ever suspension bridge! 

For two weeks the diverse Jacobs team lived and worked alongside the local community to build this bridge that will provide safe, year-round access to schools, markets and services for over 7,000 people. 

At the end of each day, the team reflected on their progress and documented their experience – and we’re excited to share their reflections with you in this exclusive feature, giving you behind-the-scenes access to the build.

The full Jacobs team arrived in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. We were thrilled to meet in person and for what was about to come! We undertook final preparations and headed to the bridge site area to get set up in our onsite accommodation and check out the existing bridge.

It was a great first day. Bridges to Prosperity had prepared the site perfectly and we all enjoyed taking part in a warmup with local workers. There was a lot of anticipation, and it was invigorating to be united as a team and receive such a warm welcome from the community!  

The win of the day was measuring 272 feet, or 83 meters, of cable, ensuring quality control by double checking their measurements by the millimeter. It was great to see process improvements being made on day one!  

The language barrier between the Jacobs team and the local team was an anticipated challenge, but it turned out to be easier than expected and both teams worked very well together.

The towers were erected today on both sides of the Mutumba River! Jacobs Safety Lead Ana B held a comprehensive safety inspection. She shared the Jacobs Step Back approach with Bridges to Prosperity who said they will look to implement it going forward! 

The most exciting activity of the day was pulling the four extremely heavy suspension cables over the top of the 29-foot (9-meter) towers. This process involved securing them into concrete anchors and clamping them at the cables. The pulling of the cords involved everyone in the whole team working side by side!

When the last cable was clamped we all congratulated each other, shook hands and erupted into song! It was a huge celebration after a hard day's work. 

The most critical task for us today was setting the sag for the bridge. Lukas and Claire continued to bend the rebar with the local team, and Chrissy, Judith, Ana J and Dan cut additional rebar and clamped suspenders to the crossbeams. We tried to be as efficient as possible today so we could take some time off to explore over the weekend. 

The bridge is finally coming together! We worked with the local team to lower the sag, finish the cuttings and bend rebar. The safety cable was removed, and the bridge was still standing.

Jacobs executive sponsor Chrissy Thom left the site today. The whole team will miss her warmth, gentle guidance, strength and her unwavering commitment to the team.

We felt refreshed after our travels and were ready to get cracking on finishing the bridge! 

Today we launched more of the swings and set the decking in place to make up the footpath of the bridge. This involved all of us being trained in working at height processes and procedures – the full body harnesses and safety line were very reassuring! 

We also finished the concrete work at the base of the towers and began painting. 

The bridge inauguration was a huge party full of dancing, singing and celebration! It was incredible to see the entire local village walk over the Jacobs Mutumba Bridge. 

We also had an incredible opportunity to go to the local school to meet with the children, sing songs, learn some traditional dances and play music. 

We then had to select the bridge committee, comprising of ten local community members who will be responsible for maintaining and looking after the bridge for years to come. The Jacobs team also gave donations to the local workers, including personal protective equipment (PPE) and glasses.

Today we connected the two sides of the bridge! The decking was attached to the swings so that it was  possible to walk from one side of the river to the other. 

We also attached the spanning cable and pipe at the bottom to secure the bridge. All six safety harnesses and cables were still in operation as the structure was finalized. 

We did some final paint jobs and started clearing the vegetation around the paths which lead toward the bridge. Ana B and Ana J went to the market to get supplies for the community BBQ in a few days' time! 

The bridge is about 90% finished! We completed the decking, the spanner cable, fixation cable and piping under the decking and could begin fencing for the bridge. 

We ended the day playing soccer and volleyball with some kids near the site. Excitement is building for the inauguration, and everyone kept coming to look at the bridge from the two neighboring communities. Not long to go! 

We secured the pipes and putting up fencing to make it safer to walk across – and with that the bridge was complete! We hosted a community BBQ with the 28 local people who all worked alongside us on the project. It was very special to share a meal together after all our hard work. 

We spent the afternoon doing finishing touches like clearing the site of any debris. After a 12-hour working day we were absolutely exhausted, but we were looking forward to tomorrow’s bridge inauguration!

And with that, we returned to Kigali and said our goodbyes. We’ll be forever connected by this incredible experience they have shared together and reunion plans are already in the making. Thank you to everyone who followed our trip and contributed to our fundraiser. We couldn’t have done it without you!