Nepal earthquake: BCIT engineers fly out to help rebuild

A team of civil engineers from the British Columbia Institute of Technologyflew toNepal on Mondayto help the country rebuild safely following the devastating earthquake earlier this year.

The seven engineerswill be travelling to rural and urban areas fromKathmandu tolookat which buildings survived the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April, and which ones did not.

"We are trying to come up with simple guidelines.. the people in those rural areas, the carpenters, the masons can adopt," saidBishnuPandey, who leads the team and teaches civil engineering atBCIT.

The engineers, all members of theCanadian Association for Earthquake Engineers,say there is always something to learn from earthquakes.

Mixed emotions

Pandeysays in remote areas, people need ideas they can actually implement, like adding timber supports inside rebuilt stone structures.

Some of the damage that led to the mostcasualties, hesays,was in rural areaswhere stone buildingssimply collapsed.

The engineers plan to workwith the Nepalese government and local engineering authorities to develop a plan for rebuilding and in urban Kathmandu, update the building code.

Some of Pandey's team membersare excited to put their skills to use, but are also aware of the gravity of the situation.

"As a seismologist, [I'm] excited," said engineerSheriMolnar."But in a human interest way, I don't want to see what I'm about to see."