Team & Mission

Construction is underway on the Karuruma Trail Bridge in Rwanda’s Kamonyi District, where Thornton Tomasetti volunteers will soon join the effort to bring safe, year-round access to more than 8,600 residents in two rural communities.

Partnering with nonprofit Bridges to Prosperity, our 2025 Thornton Tomasetti Gives Back service team is preparing to travel to the East African nation to complete work on a 60-meter (nearly 200-foot) suspended cable bridge spanning the Akaruruma River. For the villages of Kigusa and Kintama, the river presents a significant obstacle—especially during the rainy season, when flooding can cut off access to schools, health care, markets, and other essential services.

The Thornton Tomasetti volunteers will also have the opportunity to visit a local school and meet some of the children who will directly benefit from the bridge’s completion.

Karuruma Trail Bridge

The Karuruma Bridge will be a suspended cable bridge, with a lightweight, efficient design well-suited to the region’s rugged terrain. The design resembles a rope bridge but offers far greater stability and rigidity thanks to its steel cables and stiff deck.

The bridge is designed to be built and maintained with human power alone, making it ideal for our remote location and limited access to heavy equipment. Just one example of how the team is using locally available materials in innovative ways: cable saddles are fabricated from repurposed car wheel hubs. 

One of the most demanding tasks still ahead is installing the main cables. Without mechanical lifting tools, the construction team will rely on careful coordination, creativity and teamwork to haul and secure several hundred kilograms of cable across the river one span at a time. 

News & Updates

Stay tuned for updates as our team arrives mid-May and begins the next phase of construction.