Mentor Request for EWB-Madison Haiti Irrigation Canal Project

We are seeking a mentor to help with the creation of two irrigation canal ravine crossings in central Haiti. We currently have one structural-focused mentor and will need one more to help the group during the design and planning phases, as well as during the implementation trip. The community that we are helping, Bayonnais, Haiti, has a large region of non-irrigated farmland that has the potential to produce higher yields in addition to a greater variety of crops. An gravity fed irrigation ditch has been dug from the nearby Bayonnais River, but it cannot traverse two ravines without dropping drastically in elevation. The focus of this project is to construct small crossings that will allow this water to maintain its elevation through the ravines to irrigate a large region of land a small distance from the river. Preliminary designs have been created and the community is fully involved in the project. The first crossing is a single-span reinforced concrete bridge-type structure, while the 2nd crossing is a covered below-grade crossing.

Construction of the crossings is scheduled to be from January 3 - January 15, 2011. Our current mentor plans to travel the first week with the additional mentor needed the 2nd week. This situation may be alternated though if there is an unavoidable schedule conflict. The pre-implementation time commitment would not be too severe (roughly a few hours per week), as we have already begun the design iteration process. We would greatly appreciate any contact with interested professional members. Feel free to contact myself, Max Salick (salick@wisc.edu) or the Haiti project leaders, Tyler Lark (tylerlark@gmail.com) and Kyle Ankenbauer (a.kylejohn@gmail.com), for any questions regarding this project.

Thanks!
-Max