Engineer, builder collaborate on Honduran bridge project

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A.J. Voth (left) and Tom DeBates, with one of two solar panels to be used in their next project, are members of Engineers Without Borders. The organization travels to third world countries to build roads, build bridges, install solar electricity and help them with continuous water supplies. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com)

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ST. CHARLES – Armenta Lirios in Honduras is about as far away from St. Charles as you can get.

But as a member of the Chicagoland Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, Allen Voth, 59, of St. Charles, was drawn to participate in building a pedestrian bridge there.

“The community was divided by a stream,” Voth said of the people who live in Armenta Lirios.

“During the dry season, no water runs through. But during the wet season, it turns into a river and splits the community between the city side and the mountain side. The health clinic and community center are on the city side. That’s where people go to work and where the schools are.”

Thirty days a year, the stream is completely impassible; and for about 90 days, the crossing is hazardous, he said.

“People would try to cross, children went to school and were never seen again,” Voth said of the hazard.

The cement bridge with a 45-foot span they built in May has improved the lives of about 20,000 people in the area, and in particular, the 1,000 on the mountain side who were isolated from the rest of the community, he said.

“It feels good,” Voth said of making such a significant difference in the lives of the Armenta Lirios community. “It does.”

• • •

Voth helped charter the Chicagoland chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA in 2005. The national organization is fairly new as well, established in 2000.

Its members look to build roads, bridges, sanitation and energy projects in developing countries.

A civil engineer, Voth worked for 30 years in manufacturing as a trouble-shooter in product development. But after 23 years with the same company, Voth became bored.

At age 55, he quit because he decided to use his engineering background to help people in poor countries with basic needs.

With a double income, no kids and the ability to still earn a living in consulting, Voth said the time was right to make a change.

“It was absolutely crazy,” Voth said.

“It really was a leap of faith. I thought I should be involved in trying to help people. It kept eating at me. I am one of those people who believes everybody deserves a hand up as opposed to a hand out. So I decided to become a part of this.”

• • •

Members of Engineers Without Borders pay their own way to the countries they help. They partner with the communities they help, relying on local workers and materials. And they continue to partner with them for five years after the project.

Because bridges and water reservoirs tend to be expensive, the organization relies on corporate donations and grants from charities and governments to pay for them, Voth said.

“We’re doing a water project in south central Mexico right now and three-fourths of the money is coming from Mexico’s federal, state and county governments,” Voth said.

Communities bring their ideas and requests for projects to the national organization, which posts it on an electronic bulletin board for members to consider picking it up.

Jenny Starkey, spokeswoman for Engineers Without Borders-USA, said the organization is not just for engineers.

“It’s many different professions coming together with skills and talents,” Starkey said. “We have construction professionals, agriculturalists, anthropologists, communications professionals – about 30 professions represented in the group.”

• • •

Tom DeBates, owner of Habi-Tek, a solar-electric company in Geneva, was one of those non-engineers involved in the Honduras project.

DeBates joined Engineers Without Borders two years ago.

“I always wanted to be involved in projects like this and it’s difficult for me to do them on my own,” DeBates said.

“This organization allowed me to do these projects with a team. So it was just being able to follow my interests with a team effort instead of me arranging projects.”

DeBates, with 30 years construction experience, poured the concrete form for the bridge in Honduras.

The team built the bridge from May 1 to May 15. It was done so well, the bridge withstood an earthquake that shook the area shortly after, Voth said.

Engineers Without Borders also partners with students for many of its projects.

DeBates was team leader for a student project in Haiti in August. Six students from the Illinois Institute of Technology installed a solar electric system in Haiti, wiring seven classrooms in a school, under DeBates’ supervision.

“I did it because I wanted to help people,” DeBates said. “It is our focus to do something that is not just ephemeral.”

More information is available at:

• Engineers Without Borders-USA www.ewb-usa.org
• Chicagoland Professional Chapter Engineers Without Borders - http://ewb-chicago.org
• Engineers Without Borders International - www.ewb-international.org/

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