2017

Las Pencas is located in the El Jicaral and Ciudad Dario alcadias in the León Department of central Nicaragua. It is about three hours north of the Nicaraguan capital of Managua.

The bridge spans a total of 120 meters over the Río Viejo Santa Bárbara, whose flooding conditions isolate the neighboring communities of Las Pencas, Abra Vieja, Plan de Monte, and Guiscanal from education, economic opportunities and health care for months each year and has even claimed several innocent lives. We expect upwards of 100 people using the bridge each day, with a total of 3,000 in the local area that will be influenced by the bridge. Before this bridge was completed, the Las Pencas community and those nearby used a metal bridge further upstream that gets swept away during each storm and a small wooden bridge hanging between cliffs that is often swept away in floods. With the completion of this bridge, we know that these community members will now have peace of mind in their safe passage for years to come.