September/October 2017

Communities: Education
Liberian Bridge Project Earns NCEES Education Award

DORDT COLLEGE STUDENTS AND LIBERIANS WORKED TOGETHER TO BUILD THE 53-FOOT BRIDGE, WHICH WILL ENABLE VEHICLE TRAVEL AND ACCESS TO RESOURCES. CREDIT: AUSTIN LINDEMULDER

A bridge project that is aiding economic development in Liberia has won the 2017 Engineering Education Award from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. The award recognizes engineering programs that integrate education and professional practice through collaboration between students and professional engineers.

Dordt College in Sioux City, Iowa, earned the grand prize for its project, “Liberia Farm Bridge.” Four undergraduate civil engineering students worked with three PEs, construction management professionals, and others to design and construct a bridge to connect a farm and three communities to necessary resources.

A Liberian church operates the farm, which aids local sustainability in a country that has recently experienced both civil war and an Ebola outbreak. However, the farm is located in the jungle, 45 miles east of Monrovia, and a river crossing between the farmland and market prevented vehicle access and limited expansion.

The final product, a 53-foot bridge, is enabling vehicle access to the farm, allowing it to grow and add jobs. It will also help prevent injury and water-borne diseases resulting from people crossing the river on foot and ensure mobility during times of heavy rain, when community members were previously unable to access health care, food, and other resources.

The Dordt College students used engineering practices such as surveying and steel construction design, concrete construction design, and soil design. They also learned about clear communication practices and ethical design.

The team involved Liberians to create community ownership; about 30 locals participated in building the bridge. The design team also created a regular maintenance schedule to ensure the bridge will remain functional into the future.

A year after construction, the farm had grown by 140 acres and was able to add resources such as a rice mill.

All of the former students involved in the project have taken and passed the FE exam and are now gaining professional experience to earn their PE license.

NCEES also gave $7,500 awards to five additional projects:

• George Mason University’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, for “Design and Construction of a Reliable Drinking Water System for an Orphanage in Central America”;
• Marquette University’s Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, for “El Bosque Pedestrian Bridge”;
• North Carolina State University’s joint Department of Biomedical Engineering with University of North Carolina, for “Belltower Medical—Urinary Catheter Solutions”;
• Seattle University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for “Design of a Care Facility for Young Mothers in Uganda”; and
• Seattle University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for “Restoration and Replacement Options for Utility Company Bridge.”

Learn more at http://ncees.org/education/engineering-award.