Build Up Nepal
Engineers Without Borders Sweden (EWB-SWE) and Build Up Nepal began working together in 2016. The collaboration has grown over time, most recently through a new initiative aimed at scaling the production of affordable, safe and eco-friendly bricks in Nepal. The three-year initiative is made possible by a new partnership between EWB-SWE, Build Up Nepal, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), supported by Business Partnerships Platforms (BPP.)
Improvement of earth brick machines for affordable safe housing in Nepal.
Nepal is located in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, a matter that is made worse by the fact that over half of all buildings in the country do not meet safe housing standards. Build Up Nepal was founded after the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal, which cost over 9,000 lives and is estimated to have wounded more than 15,000 people. The organization aims to empower rural entrepreneurs and communities to build safe, affordable homes and resilient incomes. One way they do this is by providing rural entrepreneurs with brick-making machines, training, and support to start and build micro-construction companies. The aim is to empower local communities and bring employment opportunities to vulnerable rural areas.
The micro-construction companies are often located amongst steep and remote parts of Nepal and therefore finding a mechanic with tools and parts can be a challenge. For autonomous productions, the brick-making machines must be reliable and easy to maintain by operators who are not familiar with equipment maintenance.
During the 2019/2020 dry season, a mechanical engineer from EWB worked on-site in Nepal to further develop the brick-making machine used by local entrepreneurs. From a distance, EWB-SWE has analyzed the composition of materials and the concrete mix, and plan for projects within the areas of brick quality control and quality processes.
Travel restrictions prompted the development of a remote support and construction service
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, our team of engineers developed a well-functioning remote support and construction service with Build Up Nepal. The method has worked well, focusing on providing training and guidance on creating CAD models and drawings of the machines. The aim is to use the method to move parts of the production of the machines to Nepal, thereby creating more local jobs and increasing the supply and accessibility of mould machines.
COVID-19 has prompted a reverse migration of Nepali migrant workers from around the world. The flow of remittances has stopped, and unemployment and under-employment is on the rise. Meanwhile, the brick industry in Nepal is booming, creating a unique opportunity to create jobs for low-income families and support a green recovery from COVID-19. Build Up Nepal are well-positioned to support this development.
New long-term partnership with the Australian Government
In mid-2021, a new initiative to scale the production of affordable, safe and eco-friendly bricks in Nepal was launched through a partnership between Build Up Nepal, The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade works (DFAT) and EWB-SWE. The brick-making businesses create jobs, safe housing and opportunities for low-income families, women, migrants, youths and other vulnerable groups.
The initiative will run for three years and is expected to help prevent over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, support 250 MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and create 2,250 jobs. At EWB-SWE we believe this joint partnership with the Australian Government offers strong support for our project and will ensure its lasting positive impact on the communities it serves.
Double mould machine
The most used machine by the micro-entrepreneurs is the double mould machine which makes two interlocking bricks per cycle and is entirely manually operated. Solutions to solve the main issues with the double mould machine included a redesign of the main beam, shafts, lid support, handle attachment and locking latch. The machines ergonomics were improved by shortening the frame and lowering the hopper, making it easier for operators to fill the hopper with raw materials. The lid mechanism was changed for automatic lid opening and closing while reducing the cycle time for manufacturing bricks and allowing the lid to be operated by one person instead of two. Finally, the hopper was optimized for more efficient filling of the mould box.
Hydraulic powered brick machines
The larger brick manufacturing sites use Hydraulic powered brick machines. One drawback with these machines is that they only produce two interlocking bricks per cycle. A new mould box was designed to add versatility to the machines, upgrading them to produce either two hexagonal pavement bricks or three regular shaped bricks. The new mould box enables brick making entrepreneurs to broaden their product range and improve their opportunities.
Mixer machine for raw materials
Raw materials need to be thoroughly mixed before being pressed to form bricks. This hand mixing process is labour intensive. The only available alternative is to purchase a powered pan mixer which is beyond the budget of the micro-entrepreneur. A low-cost but effective mixer machine would boost productivity and improve mix quality and brick strength. A simple prototype was developed and tested with some promising results.
EWB-SWE plans to continue the partnership with BUN and is looking at improving the material consistency and brick quality control during manufacturing.
Previous projects
EWB-SWEs first project was performed by two students doing their master thesis at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. The main aim of this project was to develop and improve Build up Nepal’s building methods built by local citizens in rural areas surrounding Kathmandu. This included improvement to their current roof structure, developing systems to secure the building quality done by unskilled labour, make drawings and calculations to document the structural and dynamical performance of typical houses and share our ideas/knowledge for building safe earthquake house. A field trip was executed during the summer of 2016 and was followed by three new projects the upcoming year.
Out of these three projects one was performed by professional engineers from Gothenburg and the two others by students as bachelor theses at Chalmers. The professional team started to evaluate the process behind the building process. The earth brick press machine could address severe delay of the reconstruction due to mechanical failure which had to be fixed by the engineer located in Kathmandu. By creating a manual for the machine, maintenance and reparation could to some extent be done by the locals in the remote areas with just some assistance from the engineer.
One of the student groups concentrated their work at creating a manual for the whole house construction. This manual had to be available in the remote areas surrounding Kathmandu which means communication had to be done visual with both pictures and videos as well as via text. Smart phones are common in Nepal which lead to extend the manuals to an offline based app. The third project focused on the durability of the produced Compressed Stabilised Earth Bricks (CSEB) and the further development of the testing processes connected to this. The testing had to be easily done without any specialised tools which resulted among others, a drop test from different magnitudes
Project Partners
Build Up Nepal Engineering
Build Up Nepal Engineering (BUNE) is a social business dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and communities to build safe, affordable homes, and resilient incomes.
S&S Management Services
S&S Management Services is a mechanical research and development firm, working to revolutionise the building process in Nepal.
Australian Government
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides catalytic funding and can offer gender expertise to strengthen social and commercial impacts, connection to an extensive network, support to capture report social impact, safeguards standards and practices, national and global recognition.
