The Choluteca Bridge – The Bridge to Nowhere

I read an Article recently by Nigel Romana of Moore T&T whose headline read “Built To Last means Built to Change”. What was fascinating about that article was the reference to the Choluteca Bridge.

In 1998 the Honduras Government commissioned a new Bridge over the Choluteca River to connect it to a new Bypass road. The Bridge is 485 metres long . Honduras is a country known for its fierce hurricanes and they needed a bridge to withstand nature’s fury – and they did. They hired a Japanese firm to build the Bridge with the latest technology.

A few months after construction, Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras and deposited seventy five inches of rain in four days. The Rivers flooded the country and more than seven thousand people died. The Hurricane damaged most of the Bridges in the country except one! The new Choluteca Bridge remained unaffected – it withstood the Hurricane’s fury.

But there was a “small” problem – The Roads leading to and from the Bridge were washed away and what was unbelievable was that the River changed its course. The River moved and flowed beside the Bridge so the Choluteca Bridge became known as the Bridge to nowhere – it stood over dry ground.

There are many lessons to be learnt from this phenomena. Nature will always take its course. “For all of nature’s wonder and beauty, it is also hostile and unpredictable” – Liam Neeson.

Who would have thought that Covid 19 would have changed the World in the manner it has done. What side effects may occur, even after recovery, are yet unknown. It’s a long journey and for the most part it hasn’t even begun. We often focus on creating the best solution for a given problem. We tend to forget that the problem itself might change.

Covid 19 is like a hurricane that has changed the world, not only a country. It has changed how we live and how we make choices. It has been one of the most powerful change agents in 2020/2021 and perhaps history. With physical distancing many businesses have been left with few customers.

We focus on building the most sophisticated product or service without giving sufficient thought that requirements might change or the market could vanish. Instead of the well known Mantra “Built to Last” we have the “Bridge to Nowhere” and now we need to “Build to adapt” . We have been literally taken back a century ago when travel was very limited. Who would have thought that they would not be able to travel freely!

The Choluteca Bridge story has been used in many Leadership studies as well as Financial Consultants. There was a famous quote years ago when I was studying “ Change is the only constant thing in life” its applicable till this day. Like the River we may have to change course in our lives. The Choluteca Bridge is an excellent metaphor for what can happen to us – our lives, our jobs, our businesses – we have to adapt to change or else face the consequences.

Let us learn to adapt or else we could be left with a Choluteca Bridge – a superb bridge over nothing … to nowhere.