Building Back Safer in Nepal

In April 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged areas of Nepal resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries and flattening entire villages. CDM Smith was called upon help the country recover. Supporting the Government of Nepal and earthquake-affected communities, the project team is planning, managing and monitoring recon­struc­tion of critical public facilities, including schools and health facilities, and aims to strengthen private sector partic­i­pa­tion in recon­struc­tion. 

In close coor­di­na­tion with the U.S. Agency for Inter­na­tional Development (USAID), and Nepal’s National Recon­struc­tion Authority, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health, CDM Smith is helping to identify, prioritize, design, procure support and supervise construc­tion on several task orders for the USAID Nepal Community Recon­struc­tion Program (NCRP). Following a thorough study of the Nepal National Building Code standards, and completing facility needs assessments, site inves­ti­ga­tions and pre-design planning, CDM Smith’s designs incorporate seismic require­ments, disaster resiliency, energy efficiency and sustain­abil­ity.

Beyond engineering services, CDM Smith is estab­lish­ing a health & safety (H&S) culture in Nepal, providing H&S training as well as quality control and quality assurance training to construc­tion and local staff. Because the project sites are located in remote areas, which can present hazardous conditions during the rainy seasons, the CDM Smith team developed a safe journey management procedure for accessing sites. Our efforts are building insti­tu­tional capacity that will continue to benefit the local teams into the future by making health and safety a priority. The team of CDM Smith and Himalayan Builders and Engineers was one of only 36 teams recognized globally by the National Safety Council with the 2020 Industry Leader Award for excellent safety performance.

Stakeholder engagement is a critical component of the project’s success, allowing for incor­po­ra­tion of local values in the designs and acceptance by the community. CDM Smith supports community outreach, infra­struc­ture prior­i­ti­za­tion, conflict mitigation, social and envi­ron­men­tal consul­ta­tions, safety and security awareness, and all other aspects that are relevant to facil­i­tat­ing infra­struc­ture design and construc­tion.

The project is expected to be complete in April 2022.