UNC Charlotte Students Design Bridges to Replace Those Destroyed by Hurricane Helene
In one of our recent posts about Hurricane Helene’s recovery efforts, a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) review showed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent $59 million to New York City so officials could house illegal aliens in luxury hotels.
Therefore, the agency clearly had the funds to assist the displaced North Carolina residents struggling to find shelter.
There is more positive news to share, including an indication that local organizations can make a big difference.
A group of 13 engineering students from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte are using their college classes to design bridges for victims of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina1. This initiative is part of an independent study led by Professor Shenen Chen, aimed at helping rebuild infrastructure in Ashe County that was destroyed by the hurricane.
“This is the kind of thing that we call resilience, that people are willing to help each other,” said Professor Shenen Chen. “A lot of places are still there’s no access, so the students will have to do something extraordinary”Chen leads the independent study of 13 students. For some, the connection is personal.”I go home every weekend. I can get to my house easy, but it’s like, these people 40 minutes from me can’t even get to their house, or their house is gone,” said UNCC Senior Nathan Hall, from Ferguson in Wilkes County. “So just trying to help out your neighbor and your neighbor county.”His personal connection is shared by Emily Davis, a former UNCC Charlotte student and now engineer in Ashe County. She and her husband Leeth founded Lansing’s Bridge to Recovery after the storm, a nonprofit helping people rebuild their private roads and bridges.”We’re seeing a lot of washout and damage to even destruction of things that have been put in place since the storm to gain access,” Davis said.
The students are designing bridges to replace those lost during Hurricane Helene. Each student is tasked with designing a solution for a different real-world residential access point that was washed away by the storm. Their goal is to complete one bridge design per student this semester.
Engineering students immediately flocked to the course, happy to have an assignment that was both practical and meaningful.
Students immediately enrolled and are already receiving the necessary data from the actual access points to produce rapid bridge and culvert designs. Using advanced Geographical Information Systems (GIS), drone data processing and remote digital construction (DC) technologies, the students are developing designs that will be shared back to Davis for implementation.“The novel skills learned in this course are not currently taught in any standard civil engineering class,” said Chen. “Rather, it’s a need-centered model that can help inform new curricula in engineering across higher education.”Together with guidance from Lansing’s Bridge to Recovery, insight from the homeowners, and mentorship from Charlotte Water, the engineering students are developing ways for communities to reconnect.
Meanwhile, Governor Josh Stein has recently requested an additional $19 billion in federal funding for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. The state still faces many post-hurricane challenges.
- Only 4.2% of owner-occupied households with flood damage have flood insurance, resulting in an estimated $9.5 billion in uninsured residential property losses.
- Many sewage and water treatment systems are still not fully operational.
- The agriculture and tourism industries in Western North Carolina face “multi-year damage”.
- Reconstruction of vital structures is complicated by the region’s geography and the prevalence of privately-owned roads, bridges, and culverts.
I am looking forward to the progress of the student efforts on these bridges.
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