Project # 036 - Piedra Gorda Suspended Bridge

Location: Honduras; District of Yoro, Region of Yoro
Rotary Sponsor: The Rotary Club of Portsmouth
Local Honduras Sponsors: Yoro Municipality
Local Community Sponsor: The village of Piedra Gorda
NGO partner: GOAL
Trainees: Engineer and Technician from GOAL; District Technicians from the Municipality of Yoro; Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional

Bridge name: Piedra Gorda
River name: Piedra Gorda
Bridge span: 32 meters / 102 feet
Population served by bridge: 800 people

Bridge Story: When it rains in Piedra Gorda, it pours. Piedra Gorda is a small town at the end of the road. And for this, Piedra Gorda is often forgotten. Piedra Gorda is located in the heart of terrible poverty in central Honduras. And, when it rains here, it pours! And often the villages on both side of this bridge are in serious danger from such floods, mostly because the floods block them from any access to health care and food during emergencies, sometimes for weeks.

GOAL, an Irish aid organization, is implementing a large “gestion de riesgo” (risk management) project in Locomapa Yoro, where Piedra Gorda is located. When GOAL entered the area they asked each community to form a risk management committee. This committee was to identify one principal project which they needed most during an emergency crisis. Piedra Gorda, among several other communities, identified this pedestrian bridge as their highest priority project. So, we will help train them and build it!