Nica-1 completes another bridge!

Thursday, 14 June 2012 20:33

The Nicaragua 1 team traveled to Matagalpa, Nicaragua in May 2012 and successfully completed a 51 meter cable suspended footbridge over the Rio Grande de Matagalpa river for two communities, Ludicia Mantilla and Sor Maria Romero. The implementation trip was separated into two cohorts with 11 students and 2 mentors in total.

Prior to bridge construction community members were able to cross the river through a series of river rocks strategically placed across the riverbed. During the wet season, however, water elevation rises to dangerously high levels due to heavy rainfall. This impedes passage to a major roadway (The Pan-American Highway) for access to work, school, healthcare, and many other basic needs. The completed bridge positively impacts a population of 15,000 people.

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Nicaragua II May Monitoring Trip

Thursday, 31 May 2012 20:14

The Nicaragua II team recently completed a monitoring and exploratory trip in May of 2012.  During the first part of the trip, we checked previously-implemented projects in Pueblo Nuevo.  These projects began in 2008 and consisted of a health clinic and a water pump and tank. 

We are happy to report that homes in the community are receiving water from the water system and the tank is in good working order.  We also saw the health clinic in action and found it structurally sound.  Minor changes were made to optimize the rainwater catchment system on the roof of the health clinic.  Our work in Pueblo Nuevo in this trip also included several human factors elements, such as conducting a health survey, implementing an ENGI 120 table design, teaching about nutrition and sanitation at the local school, and  working with students on basic engineering design challenges.

We expect to close out the Pueblo Nuevo program soon and are now searching for a community in which to do our next project.  During the exploratory portion of our trip, we visited communities in Playa Gigante, Jinotepe, Boaco, Jinotega and Masaya and met with several community leaders, NGOs and government officials.  We found great potential for EWB projects in many of these areas and are currently collecting information from these communities to make a final decision.  We look forward to opening a new program and beginning our next project in the upcoming year!

Nicaragua-1 January Assessment Trip in Matagalpa

Sunday, 12 February 2012 20:47

Meetings, surveying, calculations, and tons of walking consumed our winter days in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. During our second assessment trip, we performed additional hydrology calculations, and met with the mayor of Matagalpha in order to get all the necessary documentation signed. We were also able to meet the two communities and perform a health survey within Lucidia Mantilla and Sor Maria. After a long week of work, we had a community meeting to begin bridge construction plans: both parties agreed on a commencement date of February 6, 2012. Everyone was excited to begin construction, and our team is anxious to return in May.