Introduction
The people of Velezizweni and Ngcoseni are the reason why the Nyawoluhle Bridge project stands in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Community partners recognized the need for safe passage over the Ngwempisi River as individuals have died trying to cross the river in the high season, pupils have access consistently blocked to school due to the water barrier being impassable, health care access involves crossing, and general flow of the community is hindered trying to cross this barrier. A partnership with Duke Engineering for International Development (DEID), Engineers in Action, and HDR, enabled the planning, execution, and funding of the Nyawolhuhle bridge.
I had the honor of serving as the construction manager as one of the 12 members of the Duke team. My role involved designing the excavation plans and the build schedule before departure. In country, I worked closely with the local masons to 1) Lead the twice-daily construction meetings where we discussed safety, planning, and logistics. 2) Lead by example to ensure the team and locals were meeting deadlines and on track to finish 100% of the bridge by July 7. 3) Coordinated all material orders, storage, and acquisition from the local population to source stones to communicate with EIA for cement and specialized orders.
Project Timeline
Link to the build schedule
Project Details
Design Specifications: Bridge Blueprints Excavation Blueprints
- Longest bridge in the country
- Span: 122.1 Meters (400.6 feet)
- Freeboard: 3.58 Meters
- Designed Live Load: 4.22 kN/m2
- Materials: Cement, local stones, timber, steel cable, rebar
Challenges and Solutions
Leadership
As the construction manager, I learned everything goes wrong on a construction site. Anybody can make a plan, account for contingencies, and organize materials. Great leaders, however, are defined by how they react when their plan inevitably goes wrong. I spent every single day and night focused on this bridge, and never ceased to be shocked at how quickly my plans went askew. Major events include a 2,000-pound cable falling off the truck during delivery and requiring human power to lift it back on, trucks breaking down, masons needing to leave midday, material shortage, team fatigue, broken tools, Inclement weather, etc. I was forced to adapt to change at a moment’s notice. We had a strict deadline and nobody on the team was going to leave the country with a bridge incomplete. When plans went wrong, I had to create alternative solutions with little delay to keep the gears churning. What helped me most to deal with the unpredictable was having such a clear vision in my head of what needed to be accomplished. I thank my background in mechanical engineering and my ability to reverse engineer. I studied the drawings and knew exactly what needed to be built before arriving. When a setback was introduced, generating solutions to circumvent the problem or working on an equally beneficial task to bring us closer to our end goal was imperative to our timely success.
Physical Challenges
Pickaxing through pure rock is no easy feat. Each ramp wall required a trench over ten meters long, 75cm wide, and 3 meters deep to be painstakingly chiseled through the rock. The hole for the 17-ton anchors needed to be precisely unearthed and the benching to create a safe working habit meant thousands of pounds of earth was removed to be filled right back in. During excavation, we were struck with the harsh reality of how labor-intensive this project was going to be. We grinded through for two weeks to finish the excavations and I extend our thank you to the 40+ members of the local community members who despite being multiply times our age, powered through excavation and showed us the technical skills required to pickax, shovel, and remove earth
This project required an immense amount of concrete and mortar. We did not have a concrete mixer on site except for the anchor pour days so we mixed hundreds of bags of cement to create our working slurries. Utilizing the volcano method, our team could mix around 10 bags of cement total per hour. That is 500kg of cement to make well over 1,000kg of concrete or mortar. The cement processing required clear coordination between the team and an enormous amount of power. This task was fought through every single day but tackled with efficiency and safety.
Logistical Challenges
Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.
A single cement bag weighed 50 kg. We used about 20-40 per day and the storage room where they were kept was one kilometer from the near side of the river (right side) and a 45-minute drive from the left side across the river. To transport that much weight with human power expends an enormous amount of energy and the challenges of the day are still yet to come. Organizing cement transportation turned out to be a critical point of our workflow and one that required problem-solving every single day.
Simultaneously building both sides of the bridge at the same time meant our limited number of tools had to be precisely distributed, quality control kept at the same standard, human power shared and regulated, and communication seamless and efficient.
Cultural and Social Challenges
Very few people spoke English amongst the community workers. That was no problem though as a lot of the work needed to be accomplished, the community knew how to do more than us. The days on site were spent diving into each other’s culture and anytime a language barrier presented itself, we were almost always able to reason our way through. Challenges arose however when disputes between communities about food, money, and gas became prevalent. This area of Eswatini is very limited so the fact that the bridge required so many people and resources was a major burden. When conflicts between people would arise, we came together as one big circle and talked about our grievances.
Community Impact
- 680 individuals directly impacted by the bridge
- 380 children served
- Number of deaths due to river crossing in last three years was 6 and is projected to be zero for the rest of the bridge's life
- 32 days a year the river is impossible to cross
- The Primary school and high school are now connected over the river
In Swazi, “suspended bridge” is called Botebebe, which means bouncy bridge. While our bridge stood resilient against the vivacious African landscape, inklings of fear resonated with many of the locals, especially the children. On the day of the inauguration, hundreds of people gathered to cross the river and not walk away soaked. However, skepticism lingered. This structure was foreign and the fact that it was standing despite the span is hard to believe. Nonetheless, the bridge gleamed with sturdiness and was now ready to be used.
As the morning unfolded and the crowd at the bridge swelled, we (the Duke team) noticed many of the young children were hesitant to cross the bridge. If they did endeavor to cross the floating walkway, their small hands clung tightly to the greased handrails. What good is a bridge if people don’t trust it enough to cross over? We took note of the problem and spent the morning holding hands and crossing the bridge with the children to build trust in the structure.
One girl stood centimeters away from the decking but as if the bridge did not exist, she was deterred to take the next step. I approached and we decided to cross the bridge together. With each step, her reassurance grew and the grip on my hand loosened. By the midway section, she was not holding onto the handrail anymore and was enjoying the view from above the river that afflicted so many before her. By the time we crossed the entire bridge, I saw the light in her eyes sparkle. For the first time in her life, she crossed the river without getting wet. The realization that she does not need to risk her life to simply cross the stretch of water, or that she does not need to hold her precious book bag over her head to ensure her school materials do not get wet, and that now she is connected with her friends on the other side was coming to fruition. Life will be safer, healthier, more connected, and enhanced because of the steps she just took.
As all of these ideas were rushing through my head and hers, she quickly let go of my hand, ran across the bridge back to where she began, grabbed two other friends' hands, and began valiantly leading them across the bridge. The Nyawohlhle bridge provided access plain and simple. But more importantly, this bridge and the blood, sweat, and tears that went into building it inspired the community to work together. The comradery uplifted the amazing souls of Velezizweni and Ngcoseni proving that when they put their mind and body to a collective effort, they can build the longest bridge in the country. This bridge will forever stand as a testament to their strength and unity, fostering hope and connection for all who cross.
Personal Contributions
Construction Manager
- Morning routine then walk to the storage site. Talk with Masons about changes to the plan made last night, and how much cement we want to send out (we didn't want to have any bags come back so this number had to be debated). Also, divvy up tools and probably throw a lot of jokes and laughs into the mix
- Once on-site, all of the community member volunteers for the day (upwards of 40), the Duke Students, and the masons would circle up. I would start the conversation by greeting everyone and then discuss the work plan, pass it off to the safety managers, then somebody would pray
- Then the work day began. Everyone knew where they should go as that was just discussed. I lead by example so I would jump into every ounce of work that needed assisting. Mixing concrete, moving stones, pickaxing, etc.
- My philosophy was to ensure everyone was pushing themselves to their best. People on site ranged in skill, fitness/strength, and general feeling for the day. I would spend time looking around, thinking about what needed to be done, and ensuring I took action by helping when a component was falling behind.
- When somebody needed work to do, they would usually come to me if there was not a clear task to be done. Masons would ensure each step was communicated with me and I would also ensure any movements I was making during the day (moving people, tools, or plans) was communicated with them
- By the end of the day, everyone would circle up and I would discuss everything we accomplished and what to look towards next. Then we would organize all of the tools, and bring them back to the storage shed
- At home, I would work with the other managers to plan out the next day. Make calls and texts for materials, update the schedule, and decompress from the day. I would reflect on my leadership from the day, what went well during the day, what was slow, and how we could improve.
Conclusion
How to lead a large team.
Leading a team of varying skills, languages, and motivations taught me the importance of leading by example, having a clear plan that everyone is aware of, and how to be observant of my peers. Nobody wants to be bossed around by somebody not doing their fair share. I strived to work the hardest every single day and found that leading from within the work vs. outside streamlined communication and oversight efficiency. When a clear plan is laid out, people become their own leader and are afforded the flexibility to accomplish as they see fit. Having a transparent construction, tool, and task plan every single day allowed for greater autonomy and enabled workers to voice their opinions on how to accomplish our goals.
Each human is different.
Where I thrive somebody else may not and vice versa. Learning how to use people’s strengths and not force them to work on something they are not equipped or passionate about doing was very important to manage people’s interests and move at the most reasonable pace.
How to ask for help.
My mind was locked into this project and when parts were going wrong, I couldn’t help but blame it all on myself. I found myself in an exhausted, stressed-out state part way through and experiencing emotions I had never felt. When I realized I was going to pop, I reached out to our project lead to simply talk about my struggles and stressors. In a matter of an hour, so much stress and anxiety was lifted. Learning how to connect and be vulnerable with the people on my project was imperative. I thought I needed to be a rock as a leader but that was not an effective long-term strategy.
How to push people.
This project required maximum effort every single day. I know how to push to my limits, but I could tell that people on our team were enduring a lot of change and becoming depleted from the changes. I learned how to motivate, when to be forceful, and when to let go and trust the person’s process. I learned how to stand up for my ideas and push people onto the path I was crafting for the collective. Sometimes people were reluctant to go along, and I respected that, but I can confidently say that I led this team on the right path and accomplished a feat that changed the world. I knew where to go and developed strategies to show people a similar direction.
Logistical planning.
As discussed above the logistical nightmares we ran into every single day pushed us to overcome hundreds of challenges. I learned how to identify bottlenecks, how to plan for circumvents, how to push through the fatigue to ensure a mistake was not made down the road, and the level of precision and planning required to sail somewhat smoothly on an engineering endeavor.