Bridge-building in Malawi: a student expedition

A group of students from Imperial College London spent two years working on the design and construction of a footbridge for a remote village in northern Malawi. This exciting project allowed the students to develop engineering and organisational skills while working on a structure that would bring real benefit to an impoverished community. The team faced considerable challenges throughout, both in terms of the low-technology construction and in learning to deal with logistical, social and cultural issues. This paper discusses the need for the bridge, a range of issues raised by the construction process and the outcomes of the project. It also offers some recommendations to those taking part in similar projects in the future, based on the team's experiences in Malawi.