Robert C. of Troop 1916 in McLean, VA, has always enjoyed his time at Potomac Outlook Park. As a kid, he visited the park frequently with his family and as a Scout, he completed many service projects there with his Troop, so the park holds a lot of meaning for him. When Robert heard that the park was looking to replace a decaying old bridge, Robert knew what he had to do. For his Eagle Scout Project, he decided that he would replace the bridge. 
First, he met with the park staff to figure out what they needed and execute the plan. The bridge was on one of the park’s more popular hiking trails and was decaying to the point it was too narrow to walk on. Robert found that most of his project revolved around planning the project, creating a timeline, and a brand new design. But once Robert finalized his plans, he and his volunteers got to work on replacing the old bridge with a new one.
By the end of this project, Robert was glad to have seen the bridge completed and to have seen his volunteers so eager to work on it. He felt that he even grew a lot as a leader. Robert said, “Personally, I strengthened my leadership skills by guiding my Troop. I also learned the positive impact that my Troop and I can have on our community. But most of all, I saw first-hand that if you put in a lot of serious work in the planning stages, making sure to think of every possible hurdle and how to fix anything that could come up, then the execution stage will work much better.”
