New Orleans engineer helps to build bridge in Rwanda | Louisiana Inspired [Video]

In Rwanda, there are two seasons: wet and dry.

In the wet seasons, rivers can become life threatening. In Ruhango, the Rurumanza River connects two districts with a market on one side and a school on the other. Before this year, people would cross the water by foot. When water levels are high, crossing is difficult. People can lose the bundles they carry, including food intended to be sold at the market.

In some cases, people drown.

In communities like Ruhango, a bridge is game changer. For more than a decade, Bridges to Prosperity has been sending teams from countries including the United States and Canada to build bridges in collaboration with communities that need them.

Jim Costigan, a Modjeski & Masters engineer who lives in New Orleans, went with a team sent by the National Steel Bridge Alliance in May to build a suspension bridge in Ruhango. …