Thread by @de_coom

I think it's pretty funny. Let us delve into this bridge: the Sebara Dildiy (Amharic: "broken bridge").

https://twitter.com/ThunderousChad/status/1492363592561311745

We must first cast back to the mid 1500's. Ethiopia is being curbstomped by the invading Adal sultanate (somaliland). The tides turn when 400 Portuguese musketeers arrive to support the Ethiopians. After several battles and the loss of a leader, the Adal forces flee in retreat.

By the mid-1600's, the descendants of those Portuguese soldiers are spreading their architechural skills over the land. In this time, our famous bridge is built over the raging Blue Nile. Not bad, alberto barbosa.

As if built to form part of a Wrath of Gnon tweet, the
original 1640 bridge was made from stone, sand, lime and egg whites. In 1901 repairs were carried out, presumably adding the bricks seen here.

In the 1930's, moorish invaders from the north came once more. Notorious African dictator Mussolini felt his horn of africa any% acheivement was not enough, and set sights on the Ethiopian empire.

the patriotic ethiopians knew they needed to stop the italians at all costs. The order was sent out: "dump it". 50 men took to the bridge, and chiselled at the central span decking with farming implements.

dump it they did: the span collapsed and most of the sabouters plunged to their deaths. Presumably when collapsing a bridge, you should be prepared for the bridge underneath you to give way. F.

The invading forces reached the broken bridge. Being incapable of fixing anything other than horse races and sporting events, the Italians crossed it using a rope.

Fast forward to 2001. A young American construction worker waits for his truck to be serviced in a ford dealership. He flicks through a national geographic magazine, and a photo catches his eye: other Africans are appropriating the Italian bridge crossing techniques.

He sees it and thinks, "I can put an end to this injustice". Our young american hero travels to Ethiopia, and starts planning how to bridge the gap.

The young American bought up supplies to make a steel truss, and with locals organised the 250 mule loads it took to transport materials. After two month's transport and six months of fabrication, the bridge was once again traversable.

The bridge repair pulled people from poverty: 18-year-old Banchamlek became one of 1,000 people using the bridge each day. By merchanting alcohol from a market to her village's alcoholics, she earnt enough to go to school. Girlboss moment!

in 2005, the steel span disappeared. Major suspects are that it was stolen by the former bridge rope-pullers, or washed away in July flooding. The rope system returned, and the girlboss was forced to merchant less lucrative goods like tea, as onlyfans did not yet exist.

The american returns in 2006. He teaches the locals and an engineering grad from Addis Ababa how to make bridge repairs from wood, steel cable and stone. These temporary bridges collapse several times, but are able to be repaired. They hope the American returns.

In 2009 the american returns again, and flush with funds from several rotary clubs, assists the building of a pedestrian wire bridge. As of 2022, it looks to be still standing, on the right-hand side of this sat image:

So we come full circle, a new bridge built thanks to a white person coming in, to replace the old bridge built by whites. In other parts of Africa, the all-wakandan bridgebuilding efforts show great technical skill and unparalleled safety:

I pulled much of this from this 2008 article: dailypress.com/news/dp-news_e…
In the end, a local concludes that a bridge and a road would make them "just like america". Given that some american bridges are now collapsing from disrepair, perhaps they already are. 🤔