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| 2009-2010 Bridge |
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Location
 Palquí,
San Miguel
Uspantán, department of El Quiché, Guatemala
Palquí is a small community in the tierra
caliente, the humid lowlands south of
Uspantán. It doesn't rain much there, but
the streams and tributaries flowing through
the area can suddenly flood due to heavy
rains in the highlands, and gullies and
ravines can become raging rivers in seconds.
The village of Palquíis divided into two
parts by the river Qebrada Palquí, and over
half of the children have to cross the river
to get to school. Currently, they cross on a
rickety plank at the bottom of a steep gully
that is washed away almost every time it
rains. During much of the rainy season, the
river is impassable and students have to
walk an hour out of the way to reach the
schoolhouse. Teachers say that in times of
flooding, attendance drops by half. A
suspended footbridge in this beautiful
community is a small investment with huge
returns for the children of Palquí.
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Phase I -
Preliminary Efforts
ND SEED is formed in
partnership with the non-profit organization
Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). According to
their mission statement, "Bridges to
Prosperity is a volunteer based charity that
seeks to empower poor African, Asian, and
South American rural communities through
footbridge building, thereby advancing
personal responsibility, community public
works, economic prosperity, and access to
schools, clinics, jobs, and markets." B2P
was a driving force in the preliminary
efforts by providing a contact person and by
making ample resources available through
its website.
ND SEED established a
support structure within the University of
Notre Dame of interested faculty and
administrators to assist in their efforts.
Throughout the spring and fall of 2009 the
team members familiarized themselves with
potential designs and worked to raise the
necessary funds.
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Phase II - Site Visit
In October of 2009, ND
SEED will take its first of two trips to
Guatemala. During this trip, the team will
meet with the community of Palquí, perform a
site survey, inquire about local materials,
and become familiar with the culture of the
country.
Establishing a
relationship with the community members of
Palquí and collecting their input will be
one of the main goals of this trip. As of
now the team has learned that the village of
Palquí is divided into two parts by the
river Qebrada Palquí, and over half of the
children have to cross the river to get to
school. Currently, they cross on a plank at
the bottom of a steep gully that is washed
away almost every time it rains. During much
of the rainy season, the river is impassable
and students have to walk an hour out of the
way to reach the schoolhouse. Teachers say
that in times of flooding, attendance drops
by half. A suspended footbridge in this
beautiful community is a small investment
with huge returns for the children of
Palquí. The team is very excited to meet the
community and to work together to find the
best location for their footbridge.
Performing a site
survey will allow ND SEED to obtain the
necessary information to design the
footbridge. After determining the best
location for abutments, the soil in those
areas will be analyzed and classified. A
survey will be performed, and a bridge
profile will be drawn with the survey data.
Additionally, ND SEED
will investigate the accessibility,
availability, and cost of materials. Most of
the materials will not be available in
Palquí therefore traveling to larger cities
nearby will be necessary. Uspantán looks to
be the closest city to find materials, so
the team will begin their search there. Many
materials will also have to be brought over
from the United States for the construction
stage.
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Phase III - Bridge
Design
ND SEED will study design and construction
manuals provided by Bridges to Prosperity
over the next two semesters. The team will
split into two smaller teams: a design team
and a construction team. The design team
will focus on the design of the bridge,
while the construction team will plan the
construction processes and develop a
construction schedule and budget. The design
process will be supervised by certified
civil engineers who are professors at Notre
Dame. The final design will be subject to
technical review and approved by Bridges to
Prosperity prior to construction.
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Phase IV - Bridge
Construction
The construction of the bridge will be from April 2010 — June 2010. The
foundation and towers will be built prior to
ND SEED's arrival in Guatemala. ND SEED will
be responsible for the construction of the
anchors, the cable placement, the
approaches, and the decking. The bridge will
be built using as many local materials as
possible so that it will be able to be
maintained by the community.
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Phase V - Project
Continuation
Project continuation
is the driving force for the founding of ND
SEED. ND SEED hopes to establish themselves
as a reputable presence first at the
University of Notre Dame and then
nationwide.
University involvement
with Bridges to Prosperity has been
extending over the past year. Notre Dame
hopes to be a role model for other schools
to follow in community bridge building, just
as the University of Iowa's team inspired ND
SEED. This is the second team from Notre
Dame to design and construct a bridge
through Bridges to Prosperity, and the hope
is for the project to continue with new
Notre Dame teams in the upcoming years.
Bridges to Prosperity
seeks to empower rural communities in
developing countries not by just building
footbridges for them but by enabling them to
continue to build footbridges after B2P has
left the country. They do this by partnering
with local organizations to train in the
footbridge technology while constructing
several "classroom" bridges. A major goal of
ND SEED will be to assist in this effort by
teaching the community about the bridge
building process and constructing the bridge
with them.
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ND SEED|156 Fitzpatrick Hall|Notre Dame, IN
46556|ndseed@nd.edu |
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