Mae Nam Khun Bridge Project

In August 2008, an SU-EWB team returned to Thailand to construct a pedestrian bridge that would connect the dormitory that we constructed in '05-'06 to a new church and community center. The team continued to build a strong relationship with the local non-government organization (NGO) Faith International and its director, Joni Morse. The team consisted of four students (Heather Baetge, Patrick Cummings, Ryan Daudistel and Glenn Strid), EWB professional partner Bradley Helland and faculty advisor Dr. Phillip Thompson. The team was also joined by SU alumnus and Bangkok resident Akharint 'Nok' Khuhapinant (BS Civil Engineering, '03) who was a tremendous guide and translator as he was in 2007. 

The impetus for this project was two-fold. First, there have long been plans to build a church on the bank opposite the dormitory. Construction on the church began in early 2008 thanks to the generosity of several US-based church groups. The most direct route between the dormitory and church was a precarious bamboo bridge that spanned a 40-foot wide stream. The alternative route was a short detour, but after discussions with Mr. Morse, it was clear that a safer bridge would benefit the community. 

The second motivating factor for the project came from the success of SU's Steel Bridge team. After an outstanding run in the national competition, we had a really strong bridge that could be broken-down into small sections, but it had no home. Unfortunately, we learned that the 20-foot steel bridge would not be long enough to use in Mae Nam Khun. Since machining and welding a bridge was not practical, two of the Steel Bridge team members, Glenn Strid and Ryan Daudistel, spent half of their summer designing, estimating the cost and developing a construction protocol for a wood bridge made using glulam construction. The two, 40-foot glulam beams were each made by gluing seven layers of 2x6 boards and bolting them together with custom-made galvanized bolts. Each beam weighed approximately 1500 pounds but they were surprisingly easy to pull across the stream with the help of the local team.