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Excite Development supports community-driven development programs worldwide by collaborating with local partners to design and implement sustainable engineering projects, while creating transformative experiences and responsible leaders. In every project, students are heavily involved in the entire project process, from the initial needs assessment to the design work, and are gaining valuable engineering experience while learning about sustainable, appropriate technology.
Current Project • El Salvador Pedestrian Bridge Excite Development is pursuing a pedestrian bridge project in El Salvador that will provide access to schools, markets, and emergency medical care for three rural farming communities. The San Antonio River divides the 36 families of El Guayabo, El Porvenir and Tula from San Francisco and the adjacent Panamerican highway. During the rainy season, which lasts from June to November, the river will rise up to 2 meters, completely submerging the existing culvert vehicular bridge for up to four days at a time. When the crossing is flooded, the communities are left isolated. Children cannot cross the river to reach the school they attend on the other side and their parents are unable to sell their produce and purchase food and supplies. The Duke team plans on designing and implementing a 40 meter suspended pedestrian bridge that will provide a safe crossing year round. The design will happen during the fall 2010 semester and the implementation trip will happen from May to July of 2011. Excite Development will work with the international organization Bridges to Prosperity to implement this project. Bridges to Prosperity has been building pedestrian bridges in over 17 countries since 2001 and has extensive knowledge of the design and construction of pedestrian bridges.
Bridge Site Assessment Final Bridge Site Currently Existing Bridge
Past Projects • Bridge in Rural Bolivia During the rainy season in the Bolivian Altiplano, the four villages of Condor, Chinoka, Iruma, Jachuma, and Obrajes have difficulty bringing produce to market because of a swollen rivers which flows through the valleys. This water course also separates farmers from their fields, herds from their pasture, and children from their schools. Such an obstacle compromises their ability to improve their quality of life in addition to their farming effectiveness. Unfortunately, the inability to develop economical and safe stream crossings is a challenge facing many communities in the developing the world.
Health Clinic in Honduras Since 1994, the Duke University Medical Center has fielded eleven medical outreach teams to rural Honduras through an interdisciplinary course titled “Exploring Medicine in Other Cultures.” The teams have included students, alumni, faculty and staff in a variety of clinical and nonclinical programs in the Medical and Nursing Schools. The Exploring Medicines clinics have provided limited short-term outpatient clinical care and health education to several small, isolated mountain communities near the town of La Esperanza in the Honduran department of Intibuca. Objectives : Solar Power, Water, Foundation
Clinic Site and Community Assessment Unhealthy Irrigation System – Clean water not protected from pollution
