Population: 250 people
Daily Traffic: 250 people (80 students)
Span: 78.0m
In 2020, the EIA-Toronto Chapter had the opportunity to be apart of the largest student collaboration ever! This year the University of Toronto, the Chapter of Iowa, University of Virginia Tech and the University College London were able to custom design a 78m span footbridge for the community of Villa Florida over the Paracaya River in the San Benito Municipality.
The Villa Florida Bridge is located 50 km away from the nation’s Capital Cochabamba. There is approximately 250 people from the neighboring communities of Villa Florida, Waña Cagua, and La Villa. The bridge is expected to carry at least 250 users daily, 80 of the users are students.
By far this was one of the most complex designs ever given to the student team, from creating a 3 tier abutment on the left side and shortening the right side abutment to accommodate for a road way. Our team did an amazing job through all the rigorous testing and meetings with engineers we were finally able to make this design viable!
August 2020 Update: Due to Covid-19 the student travel teams are currently in their respective countries and will not be travelling this year to build the Villa Florida Bridge. However, there are contingency plans in place and hopefully the Villa Florida Bridge will still be built in late 2020.
October 2020 Update: The construction of this 78m pedestrian footbridge is finally complete! The completed bridge will provide the town of Villa Florida safe access to the local school, medical centre, and market when the river is almost impossible to cross during the rainy season.
Below are some pictures from the construction process and the inauguration ceremony on October 22nd, 2020.
Engineers in Action - Toronto Chapter 