University of Colorado Bridges to Prosperity
Entre Rios
Copachuncho
Ichoca
Ichoca, La Paz
Copachuncho, Cochabamba
Entre Ríos, Cochabamba
ABOUT US
CU Bridges to Prosperity
The University of Colorado chapter of Bridges to Prosperity is a student-led university program of the non-profit Bridges to Prosperity. We are a group of students gathered to work with isolated communities in order to design and build pedestrian footbridges for the right to access. We work with isolated communities to ensure that there is a declarative need for such a bridge, that the community will work with us to construct the bridge, and that the bridge will have meaning and be cared for after construction is completed. CUB2P constructs on average one bridge per year, building the bridge in the summer whilst raising funds and designing throughout the academic school year. By constructing footbridges, CUB2P works to install the necessary infrastructure to vastly improve the lives of isolated rural communities while affording determined students a unique experience.
History
Bridges to Prosperity started in 2001 when Ken Frantz saw a community in need and acted on it. He embarked on a project to repair a damaged bridge in Ethiopia. After gathering man, money, and materials he completed Bridges to Prosperity's first bridge, Sebara Dildi. Since then, B2P has constructed over 100 bridges and is still expanding today. It has grown into a collection of professional and university-based chapters with a headquarters in Denver, Colorado.
The CU Bridges to Prosperity chapter was founded in 2011 by Anna Cassady and Mickey Chianese. In the first year CUB2P traveled to help Notre Dame complete their bridge in the summer of 2011. The following year CUB2P took on a chapter project in Entre Rios, Bolivia and then Copachuncho, Bolivia in 2013.
In 2014 CUB2P also went to Ichoca, La Paz, Bolivia to construct an 80 meter suspended footbridge over the Chungara river.
Mission Statement
The University of Colorado chapter of Bridges to Prosperity connects students with isolated communities, and empowers isolated communities with the right to access through construction of pedestrian footbridges.
Why Bridges?
Bridges connect people by allowing transport over natural obstacles. Most societies reside alongside rivers or at intersections with larger bodies of water. Without bridges many of our largest and greatest societies would not be together. New York City, having boroughs connected by bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge, would be a drastically different place. The Bay Area might not feel so connected without the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Without the various London Bridges that have existed, the history of Great Britain's largest city would have to be rewritten.
David Blockley, head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol, wrote that bridges tell the story of connecting people:
"People need people and bridges link people. Bridges are essential gateways across natural frontiers such as rivers. Where there are no bridges, marked differences evolve between modes of living, culture, and customs on each side. So the story of bridges is the story of the fulfilling of a basic human need--to cross barriers to link people."
In our mission statements we cite providing a right to access as a reason for constructing bridges. What we are sincerely working for is to provide a means to connect people.
OUR PROJECTS
