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Learn More About Our FIRST Suspension Bridge

In 2022, the EIA Bridge Program celebrated the milestone of reaching 100 bridges built, impacting the lives of over 150,000 people from 12 countries. Each of those bridges have been “suspended” pedestrian bridges with the deck hanging downward, suspended from squat, rock-masonry abutments. Suspended bridges are the most economical type of pedestrian bridge and are best suited for gorge-like terrain, where high banks ensure plenty of space (freeboard) between the bottom of the deck and the floodwaters below. For flatter terrain though,  the banks aren’t high enough to ensure enough freeboard for our suspended bridges. In those situations, a “suspension” pedestrian bridge works best.

Suspension bridges solve this freeboard challenge by pulling the deck into an upward curve away from the floodwaters. This is done by threading cables over tall, steel towers - which compensate for the flatter terrain - and hanging the deck from those cables. There are hundreds of communities in Bolivia and Eswatini who live in flatter terrains where suspended bridges won’t work but suspension bridges will. However, suspension bridges are more difficult to design and construct, which has prevented EIA from attempting them even though they are desperately needed. Until now!

In 2023 we are building our FIRST EVER suspension bridge! The Mboma (Eswatini) Suspension Footbridge will provide over 3,000 people year-round access to education, healthcare, markets, and more. Check out the video below to get a better feel for why the Mboma bridge is needed.

However, in addition to being more difficult, suspension bridges are also significantly more expensive, primarily due to the increased amount of fasteners and steel. Adding this bridge type to our repertoire will allow us to serve millions of additional people in the years to come, so we are taking a leap of faith and diving in, trusting that our loyal and generous supporters (you!) will come alongside us to help fundraise the additional costs needed to make the Mboma bridge possible. And to ensure Mboma will be just the first of many life-changing suspension bridges to come, we are asking our supporters for monthly donations (*see below for why monthly donations are even more powerful than one-time donations).

Any monthly donation is welcome, and anyone who signs up for monthly donations of at least $8.34/month (or increases their existing monthly donations by at least $8.34/month), will receive our second-ever, limited edition Challenge Coin, only available during the construction of the Mboma Suspension Footbridge.  The “100th Bridge” Challenge Coin from 2022 was wildly popular and we plan to continue with these limited-time-only collectors edition medallions to commemorate the most important moments in our history.

Don’t miss out on the only chance you’ll ever have to add the “Inaugural Suspension Bridge” Challenge Coin to your collection! All donations will go toward helping us finish the Mboma bridge and as many future bridges as possible. Thank you for considering helping us reach our goal of at least 100 suspension supporters!

**If you are already a monthly donor, please read the special note at the bottom of this page.

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Progress Photos

*Why monthly donations?

Many of our supporters already give one-time donations which we appreciate so much and put to great use toward our shared mission. We will continue to invite you to make those donations during other fundraisers like our annual Year End Campaigns. But giving $8.34/month instead of $100 at the end of the year, for example, can be even more helpful! We can immediately put that month’s $10 toward the mission. And we can safely plan to expand our scope given that we know the money is already coming in, rather than having to gamble or forego the scope expansion altogether for fear that the lump-sum donation might end up not coming in at all that year. Plus, when our alumni sign up as monthly donors, we can cite that as proof of the impact we are having on our participants (in addition to the communities) when we’re applying for funds from grants, foundations, etc. meaning your donations will be leveraged into even more support, more bridges, more communities connected, and more volunteers empowered. Monthly donors are the lifeblood of nonprofit missions. Thank you for considering becoming one!

**Instructions for existing monthly donors

First off, thank you for being a monthly donor and thank you for your consideration of increasing your monthly gift amount!

Whether you are planning to increase your monthly gift or keep it the same, please use the purple button above to switch your donation to our new donation processor, JustGiving. Unlike the old donation processor, the new one has no fees so EIA will receive 100% of all donations. Additionally, monthly donors on JustGiving will have the added ability to create an account to manage their monthly gift, download donation receipts, and more.

Once you have signed up on JustGiving, please email ethan.gingerich@engineersinaction.org so our team can discontinue your existing monthly gift to avoid double billing.