Project trip...with photos

When engineers and architects want to build something, they generally want to look at where something will be built, and test the soils. This looking was the purpose of last week. I traveled with the interns and 2 permanent staff to north-western Costa Rica. We were joined by 10 other professionals from the US and Canada. My official role was assistant structural engineer, but I did alot of other things; like literally eat some dirt when conducting a soil analysis. Just so you know it was gritty and floury which suggested it was a silty clay. Not my favorite dish in the world! It was a somewhat relaxed week for me because I was waiting for the architects to make something pretty before I made sure it stood up. But I have a new found appreciation for those guys, they work really hard and they are pro drafters. The photo is of my fellow interns Sarah conducting "perc tests" to look at how the soil will respond to water.









Our site was about 5km from an active volcano, which provides 15% of Costa Rica’s power through the geothermal plant located close by. At first I thought it was just lots of cloud permanently surrounding the volcano, and only the volcano. A few days later dawned on me, this was probably steam/smoke. The scenery was stunning, the “Rio Blanco” (white river- due to the minerals) runs through the property.

Our last night was spent at the nearby Pacific coast. It was a beautiful setting and a good way to relax and spend time with our “collogues”. Plus it meant I went to The place was full of gringos. The term offically refers Americans, but generally includes any white people. The large number of gringos lulled many of our team into a flase sense of security, expecting everyone spoke English. This is where my less than perfect Spanish came into play. I got to translate!! It was great.