Although we decided long ago about the sort of timber we want to use for the bridge, everything has now changed. Eric and Damaso went to the local woodseller who recommended a different sort of wood than the Quinilla we have planned with. The new sort is also very widely-used in the construction business but compared to Quinilla it has longer fibers and therefore is more bending resistant.

Sustainability always stands in the foreground of our desicions concerning the construction and because of this we had our difficulties with steel as part of our plans. On the one hand the climate makes it very vulnerable to corrosion and on the other hand it is not the kind of material which is easy to get and cheap to buy. We had to find a compromise between feasibility and our demands. This resulted in steel parts like "shoe" and "saddle", which now become produced in Tarapoto.

The so-called "shoe" is the connective part between concrete foundation and wooden pylon. On a horizontal plate which works as a bearing, four reinforcements rods are welded. These will be casted into the concrete foundation. On the upper side a vertical plate protrudes into the notch of the pylon and will be conneted to it. This way the direct connection between concrete and wood becomes interrupted. It otherwise would sooner or later lead to rotting, because humidity would constantly intrude from the concrete to the wood.

The "saddle" forms the upper end of the pylons. Here, a bent steel sheet is welded on a steel plate. The cables will run over it. Other than the common way saddles function on a bridge, this connection will be stiff. Any movement and forces will be transfered to the pylon which is free to move in the "shoe".