One of the most pressing issues in Haiti’s rebuilding efforts is rubble. It plagues the streets, mound after mound, at times occupying what would be a lane of traffic. It is estimated at over 20 million cubic meters of rubble, which (if you had somewhere to haul it) would take 1ooo trucks 1ooo days. 

On our initial visit in June, we were taken aback at how overwhelming the task of rubble removal is. As we developed the project and our design, we began searching for ways to incorporate rubble into our building design. It wasn’t until our return to Haiti that we came up with the solution.

We devised two different uses. The first is to use the larger debris as back-fill in the site’s hillside. The second use is specific to the type of rubble that one finds in Haiti. Cinder blocks here are often very soft, quickly turning to dust after a swing of the sledgehammer. This is problematic for back-fill, retaining walls, or other uses because of it’s tendency to dissipate. However, it’s perfect as a material to incorporate in to our ‘stabilized earth’ and plaster finish. 

Our rubble removal site is in the same community as the build site, in fact, it’s the closest destroyed cement structure. It is exciting to be cleaning up one site and directly using it to build the next.

To take this on, we reached out to a nearby organization, Hand’s On, who specialize in demolition and removal. After a brief description and visit to the site, Hand’s On mobilized a work crew and tools the following day. For the past few days 6 volunteers have been picking, hammering, and shoveling their way to the slab that lays beneath it all, filling two truck-loads each day.