On one of our trips to the market we found this cart with pigeons, worms and cicada. I wanted to keep walking but Matt insisted that we try a gigantic, fried cicada. It tasted like pumpkin seeds.
Like many other projects, the lack of time and information is forcing the design team to come up with innovative solutions so the design can proceed. In the ideal case, the Hydro team would have a detailed topographic map of the entire area. This would include clearly defined rivers in the supply area, contours within the reservoir, locations of canals and detailed land use within the demand area. Unfortunately, the only topographic map of the area we have been able to obtain is so rough that our entire reservoir falls between contour lines.
To work around this lack of information, we asked Human Translation to again send their team to the site for an additional survey. This time we requested an approximate "Mud Line" survey and a survey along the 40m contour line. The Mud Line survey roughly followed the elevation where our reservoir water line will be. The survey points along the 40m contour line is needed to correlate the existing topographic map with all of the surveys we have performed. These surveys, combined with the rest of the data already collected will be used to approximate the missing detailed topo map of the area. With this information the Hydro team will be able to complete their model.
Ideally, the Concrete team would be able to wait for the Hydo team to complete their study and provide the height necessary for the water gate's emergency overflow. However, we again must make conservative approximations so we can move forward now and then revise our results later. The Cambodian Hydrological Engineer, Yin Savaan, provided Human Translation with a concrete water gate design for this project so our strategy is to merely check this design; not create a new one. This process is just beginning but one initial design modification is to eliminate the footings shown in Yin's drawing (top) for a mat foundation (bottom). Other modifications will include changing the wing-walls slope to match our 3:1 embankment slope, increasing the emergency overflow space, and eliminating the soil-filled ballast for a concrete slab.
It's certainly busy with all of this design work happening simultaneously but the pieces are starting to fit together and it is becoming easier to envision the gate being built.
As our design progresses we continue to realize that there are gaps in our information. Fortunately, the guys at Human Translation have been ready and willing to help. An example of this situation was when the Hydro Team found a potential river intersection approximately 6km up stream from the Trau Kod reservoir. Depending on the water flow at this intersection the catchment area could be doubled so this intersection has a huge impact on the hydrological analysis. wiL put together the image above to help explain the location to HT. The Australia shaped body of water on the left is our future reservoir and the orange star on the right is the potential river intersection.
We provided GPS points and tried to explain the approximate location very clearly, however, it took three trips to the area for HT to find the intersection. This was certainly not due to a lack of effort. As you can see from the image of the river intersection above it is extremely difficult to survey areas with the heavy vegetation, conflicting local reports and potential land mines.
Despite all of the difficulties, HT was able to send us this sketch explaining this complicated river intersection and our hydrological analysis has been able to continue.
Lately, we have been focused on our design deadlines but the importance of the reservoir Water User Group (WUG) keeps coming up as an extremely important aspect of this project. The main goal of our efforts is to build lasting irrigation infrastructure for the Balang Commune. However, the long term effects of our conservative design, the detailed QA/QC procedures and construction oversight may still be greatly diminished if local leaders, as shown in Tobias' photos, do not understand the importance of regular maintenance and a fair water distribution plan.
There appears to be many reports regarding water management in developing countries; each with very specific plans of action. But, from what we have heard, these plans have not often been successfully implemented. Rather, finding strong local leaders within the community is the key for a successful WUG.
l to r: tim, ryan, matt, steve, maria Steve Forbes, our mentor, came for another visit to NYC a few days ago while enroute to Ghana. To keep with the theme, we had dinner at Kampuchea, a new Cambodian fusion restaurant in the East Village. While chowing on noodles, crepes, and Vietnamese sandwiches, Steve updates us on his insight on finances for this project, "...well, on the bad side, we're short....and on the good side, well, we're short...".
Not exactly the best taste to add to the delicious food, but we've been anticipating this situation, and have given alot of considerations towards value engineering, along with possible fundraising, to help mediate the cost of the project.
Tobias just sent us some photos from the site. They have organized between 20 and 40 local villagers a day from the different Balang Commune villages to come work on installing sod on the repaired embankment. This type of community involvement is really great. They are only able to complete about 10m or sod a day so it is slow going but the people that will directly benefit from this project are investing their sweat equity into the repair.
At the same time, we hope the villagers will understand that the reason they are spreading sod is to prevent erosion. You can see in the photo above how much damage was done to the unprotected embankment in just the first two weeks of the rainy season.
We are back from Cambodia and straight into the offices of New York. Here are some of the issues we are currently discussing:
Being stuck in an office for, what seems like, days on end is not nearly as fun as running around the site in Cambodia but it is great to be back in New York with the rest of the group. We have a huge amount of work to complete before 7/22/07 but I'm confident we will succeed.
We first met Narith at the site, where he was diligently engaged in something other than what we needed him to do. This moment expressed a more general challenge with the project - how to persuade a group of people, to whom we were total outsiders, that the methods they've been using all their lives are flawed at best, possibly even dangerous. How do you tell a crew of native-born construction workers and engineers, through a language barrier, that a pack of post-pubescent kids who grew up listening to 2 Live Crew knows embankment construction better than anyone else around? It wasn't the easiest thing we've done.
We all came to Cambodia having cut our teeth on the New York City design and construction scene, where showing up to a meeting without your guns drawn means you'll be serving coffee to the big Italian contractor for the remainder of the project. But there's a different feel in Southeast Asia - rather than fight you, these people would rather be your friends. Only a few days after our first meeting, our team was sharing a hot-pot with Narith and his wife at a local barbeque restaurant - a few days later, we began to introduce some of our methods, and found them gradually breaking through the language barrier and into Narith's project routine.
By the end of the trip, it became clear that Narith had a burning desire for us to leave behind our level, the piece of equipment he is shown holding. While we would normally return with any equipment we brought with us, his winning combination of Khmer charisma and gravity-defying mole hair (So Pheap: "It's lucky!") eventually won us over. To this day, Narith remains our eyes and ears in the field; our project, with all the bumps along the way, is certainly fortunate to have him.
L to R: Mean Somethe, Wil, Chai, "the villagers", Bryse, and Matt.
Admittedly, our schedule on this trip has been a bit unruly. Often, complicated site conditions arise that require inspecting, or temples come up that require visiting. Yet, with all the confusion, the well-groomed So Pheap diligently manages a busy schedule of driving, napping, and feeding our obsession with dirty Khmer words. Indeed, this driver of a Toyota Camry - a car blinged with "VIP" stickers on the front and sides - is, without question, a Very Important Person.
The benefits of the Trav Kod (Balang) Dam is a chain effect. Starting with simply filling the basin with water, the dam will be able to regulate the flow of water to downstream villages year round. Thus, during the rainy season, one wouldn’t get “too much” water, and during the dry season, one wouldn’t be completely without water. This regulation in water flow allows for an extended period of rice farming, and subsequently, more rice yields. More rice equals more food. More food equals healthier villagers. 
(Shown above, Bryse showing the kids ofthe Plum Kod village a picture of themselves)
Further down this canal, smaller tributaries branch off to carry the water 3km further south to where a 0.25 acre reservoir (shown above) at the Wat Trach pagoda has ran dry. 
About another 1km south, a larger shallower reservoir comparable to the Trav Kod reservoir can potentially be filled with water. Currently, an anticipated smaller water gate is being constructed to regulate water flow into the Plum Kod village.
Also, the sunsets at the construction site are pretty amazing.
