Footbridge 2002 1

Bridges making a difference.

Toni RUTTIMANN
Designer and Builder of Rescue Bridges

In 1987, an earthquake hit Ecuador. Images of the suffering caused to the local people were conveyed
to the world via television news. These images greatly affected one 19-year-old Swiss in particular,
Toni Ruttimann. On the night of his High School graduation, he left Switzerland for Ecuador, with only
a few thousand dollars collected from the people in his home valley and a desire to help. Once in the
disaster area, Toni Ruttimann saw at first hand the desperation in the faces of the people trapped by
the loss of access routes. Desperation caused by the removal of access to hospitals, schools and
markets and the overall restriction of mobility. Here, he understood for the first time the suffering that
could be relieved through the construction of a single bridge.
Now, 15 years later, Toni Ruttimann, 34, and his Ecuadorian partner Walter Yánez, 31, (Fig. 1)
have constructed over 180 non-vehicle suspension bridges, the longest of them with a span of 264 m.
Recycling used steel pipe and wire rope donated by the oil-industry, these two friends have already
improved the daily life of over 600 000 people in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras,
Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico.

Fig. 1: Latin America Team: Walter Yánez and Toni Ruttimann

In 1998, Toni and Walter moved to the Honduras, after hurricane Mitch had caused extensive
damage, leaving many communities isolated. They built 35 bridges there In 2001 Toni took his dream
of bridges for the poor from Latin America to Cambodia, Asia. (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2: The 51-m suspension bridge under construction in Yoro, Honduras, 1999

With warm approval of the government, applying the same philosophy of community self-service and
aided by two Cambodians (Fig. 3), so far 15 bridges have been built in this country ravaged by the
Khmer Rouge.

Fig. 3: Cambodia Team: Pen Sopoan, Yin Sopuol, Toni Ruttimann

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The following interview was conducted in 1999 by Bryan Adey, Prof. Marc Badoux, and Prof. Eugen
Brühwiler at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and published in the Journal
"Structural Engineering International" in February 2000. For the present publication the article has
been supplemented by three pictures from Cambodia and some updates and minor modifications were
made.

Interview
In 1987, when you arrived in Ecuador at the age of 19 you were unaware of how you could help. How
did you decide to construct bridges?

My objective was to alleviate the suffering of the people I saw trapped by rivers. Fortunately I met up
with a Dutch engineer, with whose help I transformed the donations from my home valley into my first
bridge. Deeply impressed by the people’s need and the importance of a simple bridge, I returned
home and started my studies in civil engineering. Six weeks later, I quit. I could not stand the thought
of studying for five long years, immersing myself deep into life in Switzerland and risking the loss of my
desire to help the poor. With this desire still burning inside me, I headed back to Ecuador, without
money, knowledge or tools. Having no money forced me to find an inexpensive way to build bridges.
Luckily, I found oil-company managers to give me junked cable, engineers to give me knowledge,
campesinos (poor farmers) to give me food and places to stay, and catholic missionaries to pick me up
when I struggled with malaria and skin diseases.

Why bridges, instead of hospitals or schools?

In Switzerland, we have no idea what it means not to have a bridge. We have never stood with our
baby dying in our arms at a swollen river, knowing that there is no way to cross. We do not need to
risk our lives to get our crops to the markets, or our sick to the hospital, or to risk our child’s life to send
them to school. When I saw these things, and the material discarded by the oil companies, I knew the
answer.

The construction of a bridge is a challenging task. Normally, to build a bridge you require a technical
education, money and construction workers. How did you acquire these three things ?

I asked for advice from many engineers and oilfield experts: Dutch, Mexican, US American,
Argentinean and Ecuadorian. They taught me simplified design and cable-tension formulae. They
calculated the load-carrying capacities of the towers, foundations and anchor blocks as a function of
the materials I was using. I invented the details for hanger elements, floor structure and hook-up, also
considering the available materials, as well as the non-availability of money. For the erection
procedure, I simplified heavy oilfield equipment-aided procedures into manually applicable ones. Over
the years, my partner Walter Yánez and I have further refined and simplified the design, prefabrication,
transportation and erection procedure.

Today, a typical 50-m bridge (Fig. 4) costs approximately USD 500, which we receive from donations,
mainly from my home valley in Switzerland. It is used mainly for transportation and a few specific
items, such as welding rods, clamps and paint. Oil companies give us their used cables and steel pipe.
The citizens of the communities provide the 80 sacks of cement, which represents another USD 500,
and all the wood for the bridge deck.

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Fig. 4: The 53-m suspension bridge at San Pedro Sula, Honduras,1998

The construction workers are the entire community. On our first day at a bridge site, we measure,
calculate and define the bridge layout and mark the excavations to be made. During the next few
days, the local people do all the excavating, the collecting of stone and sand, the cutting and hauling
of the wood for the bridge deck. On our second day, we position the towers and anchors and pour all
the concrete. A week later, we return for the third day with the measured, marked and cut cables and
set up the entire bridge: stringing the main cables, fastening the hangers to the main cables with the
clamps, and assembling the bridge floor. To the people, this is a miracle unfolding before their eyes.
But that is the beauty of it. The people build their own bridge. They solve their own problem. They
create their own miracle.
Why did you choose suspension bridges over other bridge types?
I chose suspension bridges (Fig. 5) because of the spans required, the fact that no heavy materials
are needed, and because the raw materials can be found amongst the items discarded by oil
companies.

Fig.5: The 100-m suspension bridge over the Rio Paute, Ecuador, 1992

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Do you have different types of suspension bridges ?

In general, we categorise our bridges into two classes: bridges for spans under 50 m and those for
spans greater than 50 m. The former have fixed towers, the latter have hinged towers. The tower
foundations and the anchorage systems for the two bridge types are also different.
Erection of the small bridges takes three days of our time on site. Erection of the large bridges takes at
least five days of our time on site, following the same construction phases as for the smaller bridges.

What is involved in preparing the bridge foundations ?

The bridge foundations are excavated by hand and made from in situ concrete with large aggregate.
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For bridge spans up to 50 m, the tower foundations typically measure 2.5 ? 1 ? 2 m , and the cable
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anchor blocks are 3.50 ? 1 ? 2 m . For bridge spans greater than 50 m, the anchor blocks can be as
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large as 5 ? 6 ? 2 m . The tower foundations are placed at sufficient distances from the river to
adequately limit the risk of scouring.

What is the longest bridge you have ever constructed ?

The fourth bridge I built had a span of 264 m (Fig. 6 ). It was built over the Rio Aguarico, Ecuador. It
took me two years to build, because in the beginning I had no money or equipment. It was built entirely
with recovered material from 22 oil companies, and the labour of the 11 beneficiary communities.

Fig.6 : The 264-m suspension bridge over the Rio Aguarico, Ecuador, 1989

How do you know that the bridges you construct are safe?

We oversize all the bridge components, so that the forces in each component are far from their
maximum capacities as determined by professional engineers. In the main cables we usually have
safety factors of approximately six, but our minimum acceptable safety factor is three. The anchors are
designed considering only their mass, the earth pressure is neglected. The towers are loaded only

vertically, with equal entry and exit angles of the main cables. Wind forces are controlled with wind-
cable bracing systems on larger bridges.
Through these calculations, the track record of our bridges and our experience, we are confident that
our bridges are safe. I would like, however, to verify the maximum load-carrying capacities and certain
details of our bridges to determine the weak points.

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How do you ensure that the maximum service load on your bridges is not exceeded?
By space. The maximum service load on the bridge is the one that will create a third of the maximum
tensile force in the cables. I select the width of the bridge deck to ensure that this maximum service
load is not exceeded: the longer the bridge span, the narrower the deck (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7: The 96-m suspension bridge at Ba Non, Cambodia, 2001, 2001

Have you had any accidents during construction?

We have never had anyone seriously hurt, thank God. None of our bridges are extremely high, and
Walter and I do the more dangerous work ourselves. I have fallen once but escaped serious injury.

How do you determine the height of the bridge deck?

The height of the bridge deck is determined by asking the community the height of the highest water
level that they have ever seen and then putting the deck well above that level.

Your bridges deteriorate due to corrosion of the metal structural components and rotting of wood.
What is the life expectancy of your bridges?

We know, so far, that without maintenance our bridges will remain standing at least 12 years. If
maintenance were performed regularly, such as replacing deck elements and painting the towers, the
life expectancy of our bridges would be greatly increased. On about one third of the bridges,
maintenance is not regularly performed by the communities.

Why is maintenance not regularly performed?

As humans, we often do not cherish what we have. The community unites to build a bridge because
they really need one and the benefits from its construction are readily apparent. When maintenance is
to be performed, however, an immediate gain is not seen and therefore many communities simply wait
for their neighbours to do it.
It is not that the people do not know what to do. The people of the community have helped build the
bridge with us and know what is to be done and how. In my opinion, if they do not love their bridge
enough to do the little maintenance required then they do not really deserve the bridge’s services for a
long period of time.
Despite this lack of maintenance, a bridge that exists for 10 years is still a large improvement over no
bridge at all. In fact we call our bridges PEN, “peor es nada” in Spanish or “better than nothing” in
English. For official matters, we use the term Rescue Bridge.

What are the changes in the villages where you have built bridges ?

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There is an improvement in the quality of life of the local people. There is an increase in mobility. The
rivers traversed by the bridges can now be crossed 24 hours a day, by a woman or child, alone, in the
rain and during the night. The bridges have made it possible to bring crops to market year round,
which has in turn increased commercial production. Children are going to school safely, and sick and
wounded people are receiving timely medical attention. Most importantly, the poor people realise that
by making small individual sacrifices and working together toward a common greater goal that they
can solve problems themselves. (Fig. 8)

Fig. 8: The 93-m suspension bridge at Kampong Pil, Cambodia, 2001

There must be many villages that could benefit from a bridge. How do you choose the location of the
bridges that you construct?
Basically the selection criteria is whether the people are willing to work for their bridge or not. We also
take into consideration the number of families served, the degree of isolation, and technical elements
such as span, topography, behaviour of the river, and accessibility of materials.

To multiply your effects, why don’t you look for assistance from local governments?

Rescue Bridge building is neither a technical problem, nor a financial problem, but a matter of
commitment and trust. To build Rescue Bridges you must be able to transmit spirit to the communities,
and honesty to the companies supplying the materials. As soon as government contracts are involved,
political interests and corruption show up, and spirit shies away. Once the spirit is gone you need to
pay for services, materials and workers, and it then takes millions of dollars to do what we do with
thousands.

With regard to the future, what do you see personally and professionally?
Personally, I try not to think about the future. Bridge building is my life, and many bridges are needed
for many poor people in this world. While I have good health and my dream to help people, I will
continue. Professionally, with my loyal partner Walter, I am laying the groundwork to multiply the effect
of our work.
Do you have a vision?

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Rescue Bridges as a commodity. If a village needs a bridge and is willing to both work for it and
transport it, then they should be able to have it, without political, economic or religious barriers.
Do you have advice for people that would like to follow in your footsteps?
Never give up on your dreams. Try, every day, to make a difference in the lives of others and act
accordingly. Get involved in this world, and contribute as much as possible.
Critical Comments
With all due respect for the work and devotion of Toni Ruttimann in his bridge-building efforts,
consideration of his work raises professional and ethical questions. Toni Ruttimann has no
engineering degree or professional training, but nevertheless builds pedestrian bridges with spans of
up to 264 m. The interviewing team received a number of comments of the reviewers of the above
article, and consequently asked themselves the following questions.
In terms of safety, are the actions of Toni Ruttimann irresponsible?
Toni Ruttimann’s bridges are auxiliary bridges or, as he calls them, Rescue Bridges. They are built
using simple design rules and construction guidelines that have been learned from and developed with
professional engineers. In our discussions with Toni, he demonstrated that he is well aware of the
risks associated with the construction of his bridges. The designs are conservative, and the bridges
are built following a strict procedure to ensure the necessary quality and safety. The bridge designs
would be accepted by most structural engineers.
What safety level is acceptable for Rescue Bridges?
So far, 180 Rescue Bridges were built, which directly and positively affect the lives of approximately
600 000 people. The safety levels of these bridges are higher than those that the bridge users accept
in other aspects of their daily life. In this situation, helping people who are in need is more relevant
than passing judgement on the risk acceptance levels of more-developed countries. The people who
benefit from these bridges are grateful for the improvement in their standard of living, and are capable
of deciding the risk levels they are willing to accept.
Who is responsible if one of these bridges fail?
As with any structure the owner is responsible. In the case of Rescue Bridges, the owners are the
communities who helped build them and benefit from them. Toni Ruttimann has helped these
communities provide themselves with a temporary way to cross rivers. The responsibility for ensuring
their continued functionality rests with the communities themselves.
Is it only in less-developed countries where bridges built by non-professionals are possible?
The success of the Rescue Bridge builders can be attributed partly to their extreme efficiency and
“professionalism”. These attributes allow them to react and intervene where help is needed much
faster than many local government agencies or relief organisations. It is this ability to help people in
need that counts.

Bridges built by non-professionals are also in use in many more-developed countries. In Switzerland,
for example, footbridges built by non-professionals provide many recreational hikers with access
across deep valleys in the Alps.

Does IABSE endorse bridge building by non-professionals?

One aspect of the role of IABSE and Structural Engineering International should be to report on
unusual aspects of structural engineering. Building pedestrian suspension bridges from used material
with the aid of untrained people, who are willing to help build a bridge because of their desire to have
one, falls into this category. One specific objective of this interview is to show, especially to young
engineers, that structures, in particular bridges, help people.

Acknowledgement :

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The Scientific Committee of the Footbridge 2002 Conference thanks the

International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) and
Prof. Eugen Brühwiler, former Chairman of the IABSE Publications Committee
for the permittance for the modification and reprint of this article
originally published in "Structural Engineering International" Vol. 10, No.
1, 2000 by IABSE .

Prof. Hugo Bachmann

Chairman of the Scientific Committee Footbridge 2002