At the height of the Incan empire, a series of 200 woven suspension bridges crisscrossed the valleys of the Andes. Today, only one remains.

The Last Inca Rope Bridge, Q’eswachaka, Is Rebuilt Yearly

Every year, high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, a man builds a bridge. The bridge is strong enough to hold the weight of more than one hundred men. But it isn’t made of iron or steel. It’s made of grasses and fibers. It hangs 60 feet above a thundering river.

And the man is not a construction worker or a structural engineer—but he is the only person on earth who knows how to build this particular bridge. That man’s name is Victoriano Arizapana, and he is the heir to a tradition that is over 500 years old.

  • addie@feddit.uk
    7·
    2 months ago

    It’s not such a massively high bridge as the description makes out, and the valley looks a lot calmer a little downstream. Prepare a thin rope, long enough to span the gap. Cross over downstream, either in a little boat or on foot when it’s dry, with one end of the rope. Walk back up the valley with your end, and your mate carrying the other. Tie the thin rope to a strong rope, pull that over. Tie the strong rope to the bridge, pull that over. Fasten both sides. Done.