Innovative CHF Program Recycles Haitian Earthquake Rubble for use in Recovery Effort

Petit-Goave Mayor Marc Roland Justal (center) tours a CHF rubble recycling center at the Ecole National de Notre Dame de Sagesse in downtown Petit-Goave.

October 28, 2010—CHF has launched an innovative new program in Haiti that is turning buildings destroyed by the January 12 earthquake into valuable sand and gravel that is being used in the recovery effort.

CHF's program, called CRUSH (Creating Rubble Recycling Solutions for Haiti), was launched in Petit-Goave on October 18 and is intended to eventually expand to several sections of the earthquake-affected area.

The CRUSH program is currently using 10 portable rock crushers supported by a total of 284 workers to process rubble at 9 sites in Petit-Goave. The portable crushers were built by Red Rhino Crushers in the United Kingdom, representatives of which came to Haiti in mid-October to train CHF local staff in how to use and maintain the machines.

CRUSH is unique in that it is the only large-scale program in Haiti that is actively converting rubble into material that can be used on-site to improve communities affected by the earthquake. Among other uses, CHF has been using sand and gravel to construct cement platforms for its shelter program. Additionally, CHF is accumulating gravel for use in critical road projects identified in concert with the local government, and will soon be delivering gravel to serve as floors of schools still operating out of tents.

The CRUSH program is also unique in that it dramatically reduces the transportation costs and bureaucratic obstacles associated with other rubble removal programs in Haiti. Suitable, approved rubble dump sites in virtually all parts of Haiti are either of insufficient size or are so far away from affected areas that they are cost prohibitive both in terms of time required to access them as well as money required to fuel the trucks. Processing the rubble on-site is much cheaper overall and will allow CHF to operate much more efficiently than other rubble removal programs in Haiti.

In less than two weeks, CHF's crushers have already processed nearly 1,000 cubic meters of rubble to produce an equivalent amount of sand and gravel.

Petit-Goave Mayor Marc Roland Justal was complimentary of CHF's program. "I love the new rubble recycling program that CHF is implementing here," said Justal as he toured one of CHF's recycling sites. The mayor continued, "Instead of just throwing rubble into the ocean or rivers, we can dispose of it on site and for useful purposes." The mayor promised to collaborate with CHF to identify the best possible uses for the processed rubble, in particular key dirt roads that would be reinforced by adding a layer of gravel.

The CRUSH program is paid for by USAID and will continue through February 2011.

For more information about Red Rhino Crushers, see their website at http://www.redrhinocrushers.com

Fine sand produced by CHF's rubble crushers. Such sand is ideal for producing concrete for use in building shelter foundations.