Senior design projects are an engineering students’ rite of passage, a chance to apply four years of classroom knowledge to a real-world project. We, as civil engineering students, could choose any type of structure in any location. While our classmates decided to focus on projects within the city of our university, Columbia University in the New York City, our group decided to turn our focus to rural Alaska.
As global climate change has worsened, thawing permafrost, and advancing waters have slowly eroded the coastline, washing away critical infrastructure and threatening homes along Alaskan rivers. This is particularly true for Newtok, a small village located on the Ningliq River in Southwest Alaska. In 2003, an agreement for managed retreat was made for townspeople to resettle by river to higher ground several miles away in Mertarvik. It wasn’t until 2019 that the first residents arrived in this new town, even though there is no functioning sewer system and part of the school has been torn down for safety concerns. As a complete greenfield development, Mertarvik requires all new infrastructure to be built, including an air landing strip, a landfill, an evacuation center, and a school. Continue reading ‘How Columbia University Students’ Design of an Alaskan School is Informed by Climate, Culture & Community’ by Angelina Wu & Charitie Ropati
