2007
In 2007 we sent two teams of students to Nicaragua to complete work identified during the 2006 assessment, and to assess projects for the 2007-2008 year:
Jinotepe Project
Lead Engineer: Cole Presthus colep@wdyi.com
Project Leads: Tom Wharton tom@wdyi.com, Seth Moody seths.moody@gmail.com
Project Partners:
Project Statement:
Collaborating with local civil engineering students from the Universidad Paulo Freire in Diriamba, Nicaragua, EWB completed three infrastructure improvement projects at the Hogar in Jinotepe. The water storage problem at the Hogar was resolved by installing two new water tank towers and plumbing together three tanks (totaling 10,000L) to the gravity-fed system used when the city shuts off the water supply.
The roof of the facility was reinforced by installing CS16 galvanized steel tension strapping graciously donated by Simpson Strong-Tie (www.strongtie.com).
Finally, new electric conduit, switches and energy efficient bulbs were installed to improve lighting and overall system efficiency.
Nicaragua Project Assessment
Project Lead: Matt Gerber
Three EWB at PSU students traveled all over Nicaragua assessing future projects for EWB. The trip was in partnership with Teamworks International (www.teamworksinternational.org). The three primary sites of interest were the small town of El Bluff near Bluefields on the Caribbean coast, Puerto Cabezas, which is also on the Eastern coast, and Somotillo, which is near the Honduran border. The participating members interviewed local residents and civic leaders, performed rudimentary feasibility studies, and collected data. Of particular interest were projects involving biosand filters, ecostoves, composting toilets, solar power, and water transportation.
2006
In 2006 we sent three teams of students to Nicaragua to work on infrastructure improvement projects at elder care centers. The projects were as follows:Matagalpa Project
Lead Engineer: Teresa Morales tdmorales@yahoo.com
Project Lead: Jeremiah Hess jeremiahhess@msn.com
Project Statement:
The Hogar staff irrigated the existing 5 acre orchard using flood and furrow irrigation techniques. This method wastes water and forces staff to cut back on water use and sanitation issues arise. The project entailed designing and installing a drip irrigation system that would conserve water and, indirectly, improve health conditions at the home due to the increased availability of water.
Jinotepe Project
Lead Engineer: Brad Bogus BradBogus@kennedyJenks.com
Project Lead: Chris Nelson chrisfnelson@hotmail.com
Project Statement:
The Hogar at Jinotepe has an elevated (3 m) 2,500 liter storage tank. The city water system does not have sufficient water pressure to serve the Hogar for the majority of the day. The elevated tank fills during the night and water is withdrawn during the day for cleaning, bathing, cooking, and drinking. The volume of water stored in the 2,500 liter tank is not sufficient to meet the water demands in the Hogar. There is an existing ~5,000 liter ground level concrete tank that could be used to augment the existing storage. A water treatment process will be designed, but not implemented at the upcoming trip.
Assessment Team
Lead Engineer Brad Bogus
Project Lead: Rob Allan amergin71@hotmail.com
Project Statement:
This team will work with faculty supervision to plan a site assessment trip around the Hogar communities. Before the trip in March they will plan data gathering and assessment strategies. This will be the predecessor to future hogares projects, including the senior design for CE's in 2007. Several students are doing this for elective credit and will have reports and presentations before and after the trip.