Steel Saves Lives
Sara Sandock,
Posted
10/01/2010
Light-gauge
steel structures provide shelter for Haiti's residents
SEI Haiti Project Team
Scott Coulombe, vice president of Steel Elements
International, senior project manager on the Haiti project.
Jane Legere, SEI logistic coordinator, project
accounting for the Haiti project.
Normand Pomerleau, SEI, initial response team and
staff training for Haiti project.
Danny Clich, SEI, initial response team and staff
training for Haiti project.
Earlier this year, Steel Elements International, based in
Hudson, N.H., was contacted by Silver Spring, Md.-based nonprofit
organization CHF International about the possibility of creating
steel shelter developments in the earthquake-devastated country of
Haiti. CHF is one of the world's largest humanitarian
assistance organizations, and was one of the first groups on the
ground responding to the Haiti disaster.
CHF staffers in Haiti were familiar with
Steel Elements' work in metal construction, and decided to approach
them about custom building a shelter that could serve as a more
permanent form of housing for displaced Haitians. Due to their
commitment to helping rebuild after natural disasters, SEI obliged
to help on the project.
"SEI was compelled to help in Haiti due to the fact that we have a
solution that will aid and save human lives in this tragic event,"
Scott Coulombe, vice president of Steel Elements and senior project
manager for this project.
"It would be unthinkable to not want to help our fellow human
beings in this situation."
This project, however, has been far
greater than any project SEI has ever been involved in, and the
results of this partnership were far beyond what anyone could have
imagined
Built with durable cold-formed, lightgauge steel and industrial
grade fabric, these transitional to permanent shelters are
customized to withstand earthquakes and other natural
disasters--far more permanent than most shelters being built in
Haiti. SEI and CHF worked hand-inhand to design the custom steel
shelters, which SEI then built and shipped to Haiti to be completed
by CHF on-site and delivered to residents.
To date, SEI has built 2,000 Galvanized
G-60 steel shelters, with a plan to build a total of 7,500. There
is an average of five people living in the individual shelters,
which were built to last 30-40 years exposed (without cladding
material) or more than 200 years with a permanent siding installed.
These steel sanctuaries will surely make a remarkable impact in the
lives of Haitians in need of safe, secure housing.
"The goal was to get shade/shelter from the environment in an
extremely fast manner and to take the same structure and convert it
into permanent housing by enhancing the exterior finishes to last a
lifetime," said Coulombe.
SEI is manufacturing the materials under a joint agreement. The
materials are all cold-formed steel studs and track, and are
galvanized G-60 coated. All fasteners are coated with a special
coating to prevent rusting and the roofing material is steel coated
with Galvalume, which reflects 95 percent of the sun's radiant
energy so the building does not overheat. A majority of the
materials are shipped to Haiti from Florida. SEI performed all
functions in-house for the project and there are about 50 people
on-site each day in Leogane to assemble the building components and
set up shelters. To make the process as easy as possible, SEI
provides the materials in a pre-cut and numbered (kit) fashion,
ready for field assembly. The first shelters arrived in Haiti on
March 1.
The models are in compliance with Sphere
guidelines that require 38 square feet (3.5 m2) per person,
measuring 200 square feet (19 m2) or 10 feet (3 m) wide by 20 feet
(6 m) long.
According to Coulombe, building in the country is a unique
challenge.
"There is no infrastructure in Haiti, power is limited, there are
non-existent street signs and roads are like stream beds. Bridges
are missing or destroyed, tens of thousands of people cover the
streets that you are trying to travel on, the weather is
excruciatingly hot, materials get stuck at customs, vehicles to
move materials from port to site are very expensive and unreliable.
Ninety-seven percent of the Haitian population does not have clear
title to their land, land space is extremely limited, the land is
either too steep or near a stream or river that can flood," he
said.
The organizational process was what
Coulombe calls "definitely structured chaos!" Plans had to remain
fluid and everyone had to be able to think and react quickly to new
information that was coming in after the earthquake. Every aspect
of providing housing had to be worked through, from having clean
drinking water to security and everything in between.
"This project was so challenging from every aspect that I had to
draw on my educational background and from 14 years of experience
working with this product around the world to pull this project
off," said Coulombe.
There were thousands of international
aid organizations on the ground in a short period of time all
trying to acquire the same limited resources in a country that had
limited resources prior to the earthquake. Everything from anchors
to tarps had to be custom designed and engineered to meet the
environmental, as well as cost, conditions.
"It was extremely gratifying to see a product that we designed
help move people from living under a bed sheet to a structure that
will not be blown away in a hurricane or collapse in an
earthquake," said Coulombe said. "[The] living conditions really
had me thinking about how fortunate we are here in the U.S. I have
been to many third-world countries and have not seen the extreme
poverty that I have observed in Haiti."
SEI has dedicated themselves to this
work so seriously that they have launched a new site,
www.emergencyhousingforhaiti.com, which outlines the products and
services that they're now offering other nonprofits on the ground
in Haiti.
"This experience is something I will never forget," said
Coulombe.
Although this is SEI's first time providing shelters after a
natural disaster, they are actively marketing the steel housing and
school units for other natural disasters, such as in Pakistan. As
for Haiti, SEI completed loading the last containers of steel on
July 13, 2010 and CHF will continue to erect the structures
throughout the country.
Why steel is the material of choice in
Haiti:
• Lightweight
• Withstands seismic activity (earthquakes)
• Can withstand hurricanes due to strength and screwed
connections
• Will not rot in the humid environment
• Termite-resistant
• Fast to assemble (2 men, 1 day)
• Easy to ship (50 units per 20-foot container)
• Cost effective-less than $1,200/unit delivered to
Haiti.
www.emergencyhousingforhaiti.com