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The inauguration
The Calabase bridge was finalized on Saturday April 25th, right in time for its inauguration. Decking was completed in 48 hours thanks to the team's dedication and the performant tools donated by Hilti. As the team stayed on the jobsite late on Friday, the feeling of excitement and determination was high and helped us complete the step we were most looking forward to: joining the two banks of the river. On Saturday morning, the team focused on the final touches, such as fencing and covering the last ramp with a coat of cement. As 2 p.m. approached, our first guests arrived to take a glimpse at the final result. The inauguration started with a celebratory lunch for the community inhabitants and guests. Among them, there were villagers from El Copé, where our group stayed for the duration of the project. It was touching to see all of them present as they only came to support us. After a few words to the community, the inauguration began and we asked Karina, the school girl who we had seen cross the river to go to school a few days earlier, to be the first user of the new bridge. The community's excitement was palpable as people tried their best to take pictures and videos of their first walk across the bridge. Then it was time to leave. The team left Calabase with great memories and the feeling of having contributed to a better tomorrow for this community. We are looking forward to hearing about the positive impact of the new bridge for all the people we met and connected with. This project was an incredible experience that inspired us and showed us that we can all make a difference.
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Meanwhile on the jobsite...
While some of us went to the university, some others went to the jobsite to discover the effects of last night's rain storm. The water level rouse by over 2 meters and the improvised crossing point was washed away. This is another setback to our project and could jeopardize the bridge inauguration on Saturday, as it makes it very hard to carry the materials needed to the other side of the river. Nevertheless, the team stayed positive and decided to complete everything that could be done on the one accessible bank. This was achieved thanks to the extra help received from the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá students and to our perseverance. By the end of the day we had put tension in all 5 cables that will support the bridge on our side of the river. The water level was still high as we prepared to leave the jobsite. At that moment we met a young schoolgirl who was trying to reach the other side of the river by getting in it waist-down despite the danger of the currents. To us, this is an impactful reminder that the Calabase bridge is needed more than ever.
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Exchange with the Universidad Tecnológica de Panama
On Tuesday, part of the team went down to Penonomé, capital of the Coclé province, in order to give a presentation at the faculty of civil engineering of the Universidad Tecnológica de Panama. We were welcome by a group of 25 third year students of building engineering. Lee, Nicolas, Ana, Sergio, and Alex presented the project, the organizations involved, and B2P's mission in Panama. The students were then invited to join us on-site to familiarize with the jobsite and the bridge-building conditions. This was a great opportunity for us as we got locals involved in the project and extra hands for our activities. After our tools Specialist, Guadalupe demonstrated Hilti tools to the students they were split in 3 groups that participated in preparing decking beams, transporting materials, and a theoretical bridge design exercise with the Arup group. It was a great experience to see future engineers excited and inspired about social responsibility activities in their region.
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Team presentation
Nicolas Wohlwend - He is originally from Liechtenstein and works at Hilti in Switzerland. He is one of the initiators of the partnership between B2P, Arup, and Hilti. Lee Franck - She is originally from Luxemburg and works for Arup in London. She is one of the initiators of the partnership between B2P, Arup, and Hilti. Robin Fuchs - He comes from Germany and works for Hilti in Brazil. He is the Project Manager for the Calabase project. Sergio Ros - He is from Valencia, Spain. He works for Arup in London. He is the Construction Manager on our project. Virginia Oya - She is from Madrid, Spain. She works at Hilti in Chile and is the Sub-construction Manager on the Calabase project. Juan-Manuel Parra - He is our Logistics Coordinator on-site. He comes from Venezuela and works at Hilti in Colombia. Juan-Pablo Rodriguez - He is from Colombia and works at Hilti in Colombia. He is the Safety Manager on the jobsite. Alejandro Perez - He is from Vigo Spain and works for Arup in London. He is one of the Communications Coordinators on-site. Guadalupe De la Losa - She is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and works for Hilti in Argentina. She is the Hilti tools Expert on the jobsite. Ana De la Colina - She is from Geneva, Switzerland and works for the Hilti headquarters in Liechtenstein. She is one of the Communications Coordinators on-site.
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Technical note: The bridge design needs to be revised.
First day on site and first set back. The excavation has found impenetrable rock, which means the right side gravity anchor cannot penetrate down to the design depth. With insufficient soil cantiledge now present on top of the anchor, the required friction on the underside of the anchor cannot be mobilised anymore to prevent the anchor from sliding. This is even aggravated more by the increased lateral force on the anchor due to a shallower backstay angle. The ramp masonry side walls, which normally have the function of transferring the lateral reaction force from the anchor to the tower and hence engage the friction on the underside of the tower foundation, can also not be completed due to the presence of the rock. After an initial inspection on site on Friday, B2P´s technical director and the Arup engineers stuck their heads together until late at night to develop an alternative anchor design to suit the new site conditions. Part of the lateral anchor reaction can be resisted directly by bearing onto the rock, but is difficult to quantify due to varying anchor and rock geometries and workmanship on site. Therefore the top part of the anchor is extended upwards and a transfer beam installed, extending continuously over the rock, transferring the lateral force back to the tower. In addition, the anchor will be weighed down by building an additional 2m high masonry and rock tower on top of the anchor to increase the lateral friction force. This new combined system will provide the required sliding resistance of the anchor in line with the new cable geometry and site conditions.
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Our first weekend on site
We spent Saturday and Sunday solving the challenges regarding the design of the right anchor of the bridge. We were mainly involved in additional concrete pouring for the anchor or preparing the steel cables for the bridge. Therefore we had to unwind a 2-ton steel-cable roll and cut 5 steel cables of 90 meters for our 47 meters bridge.
On Monday we are scheduled to get the five steel cables to the site, put them on the bridge and finish the labour intensive work on the right anchor. This will serve as the basis in order to be able to tighten the steel cables, set the sag and begin with the decking in the following days.
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