Four Tech students flew down to Guatemala yesterday to work over the next 17 days on a foot bridge which will span across dangerous flood waters for local villagers. This will be the third bridge the the students have built on foreign soil.

 

Tyler Edwards, a junior in Building Construction, has embodied Virginia Tech's motto Ut Prosim while employing his academic training to help others. He is the Project Manager of Virginia Tech's chapter of Bridges to Prosperity, a service organization that builds footbridges in developing nations to meet the local community's needs. Tyler explained that, "the Project Manager position for Bridges to Prosperity is, in many ways, comparable to the responsibilities of a professional in the construction management industry. These responsibilities range from construction oversight, quantity take-offs, building schedule development, materials procurement, topographic surveying, and the creation of a construction logistics plan for the bridge. The field experience that I have gained through three years of interning with W.M. Jordan Company, coupled with the education that I have received from the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, has afforded me the knowledge necessary to undertake this dream." 

Over Thanksgiving Break in 2012, Tyler traveled to Lougou, Haiti to take part in building the Lougou Bridge, a 54-meter long suspended footbridge over the Cavaillon River. Tyler stated that, "this bridge will save the lives of many people; no longer will parents wonder if their children will safely return from school.  No longer will fathers and mothers need to risk their lives during the floodwaters of the rainy season for their jobs, healthcare, and livestock." The expected traffic for this bridge is 200 people per day, which shows the impact that this bridge will have on the locals who need to cross the Cavaillon River in the future. Tyler and his club members are excited to be working on their next bridge project in Guatemala this month.

Watch Ut Prosim for Mankind, B2PVT's latest video (below).

 

  

I posted this article not only because it's features my twenty year old son, but it's also an inspiring story that shows the difference they're making in people's lives. It's a story about new construction, not your typical story about building in the U.S., and not your typical story about college kids today. We should be proud of their volunteerism and hard work for a good cause. Virginia Tech's motto, Ut Prosim ("That I May serve"), stems from the tradition of the all military school which began in 1872. 

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