The workers are fearless. Since my town is at such a high elevation, it’s a freezing Malagasy June. But that doesn’t stop them from submerging themselves, soaking their skin and clothes in ice water to manipulate its flow. Last Friday I went out to observe construction, and they were waist-deep working at the bases of the bridge pillars. They also carried in heavy sandbags to lessen the strength of the current.

The bridge is now about halfway done. Concrete pillars have been erected, and the first layer of the base has been put down on half the bridge’s length.

        

Construction hasn’t been without flaw… a few weeks ago the middle pillar, where the water is deepest, was toppled on its side by the strength of the water. The workers were naturally disheartened, but have shown great resilience. The architect has hatched a plan to re-erect the pillar. It will be rooted deeper into the water, and all the pillars will soon be weighted with stone blocks covered in dried cement.

The base of each pillar will be weighted in stones and then covered in cement, like hard nuggets frozen in melted chocolate

The fallen pillar will add another week to construction. This week the workers are taking a break because the water level is so high, but they will resume next week. Construction is on its way! 

The architect getting ready for action