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Way Sekampung Pedestrian Footbridge
Project # 004
Project Slide Show
Bridge Sponsor: Christian Children's Fund, Bridges to Prosperity
Bridge Name: Way Sekampung
River Name: Way Sekampung
Pedestrian Footbridge Type: Suspended
Bridge Span: 202 feet
Population Served by Bridge: 10,000
Expected Traffic: Heavy - 150 crossings per hour.
Bridge Story: In 1992, a terrible tragedy struck the village of Bumi Arum. Fourteen of their children drowned in the Way Sekampung River while crossing on their suspension bridge. The bridge was poorly designed, and hence, swayed dangerously when even lightly loaded. When the fourteen children, all walking together on the way home from school, came to the center of the cable bridge, the deck moved under them back and forth. The more they tried to stop the swaying, the worse it got. Finally, it moved so violently, that all the children were thrown off the bridge into the swift and unforgiving currents of the river some 40 feet below. All of them drowned. It was the largest tragedy to ever hit Bumi Arum. Since that time, efforts have been made to stabilize the bridge, but have been in vain.
The proposed bridge repair would leave the bridge length of 202 feet and bridge width of 6 feet the same as before. What would change is the concrete footings, the tower height, the cable size, the length of the drops, the attachment method of the deck to the drops, and the decking design.
The approximate population on both sides of the bridge is about 10,000. The closest other bridge requires a round trip of 50 kilometers. The most commonly carried commodities over the bridge are banana, coconut, corn, rice, cassava, spinach, string beans, peanuts, peppers, and coffee. Currently, the number of people, bicycles and motorcycles crossing, equal about 1000 per day. With the bridge repaired, the traffic is estimated to increase to 2000 per day. The other benefits are medical and school. Currently, there is only a middle and high school on one side of the river. Furthermore, the stability issue prevents the bridge from being used for the transport of the ill on stretchers to the hospital on one side. The repair will reduce transport time to hospitals from 1 day to 1 hour.
In late 2001, the Christians Children Fund (The CCF has its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia), submitted an application to Bridges to Prosperity to help repair this bridge so as to eliminate the swinging problem. Hence, Bridges To Prosperity agreed to provide roughly half the funds, and provide USA engineering expertise. CCF arranged for the remaining funds and coordinated the purchase of materials and construction.
Bridges to Prosperity hopes to enter into more bridge collaborations with the CCF and other charity organizations in the future. Such collaborations will allow Bridges to Prosperity to get more bang for every dollar donated, and will allow others to more easily benefit from our engineering expertise in safe pedestrian bridge design.
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Project # 004 - Way Sekampung Pedestrian FootbridgeCompleted Bridge Project Registration
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