Sludge treatment system in the city of Wukro (Ethiopia).

This cooperation project aims to improve the sanitation facilities of the city of Wukro (located in the Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia), particularly the management of latrine wastes, by designing a sludge treatment plant in the city. It is framed within the Final Project Department of the E.T.S.I. de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, in collaboration with Wukro’s St. Mary’s College and the Mission of Ángel Olaran, that are part of the Ethiopian Catholic Church Diocese of Adigrat (ECCA). The present city, of about 42,000 inhabitants, was founded by the Italians in 1936. Due to its geographic location, which makes the city suitable for industrial and agricultural activities, Wukro is becoming an important administrative and economic center in the region, with a fast growing population.

Application of a building cost estimation model to the appraisal of the churches damaged by earthquakes in Lorca (Spain)

The objective of this paper is the development of a building cost estimation model whose purpose is to quickly and precisely evaluate rebuilding costs for historic heritage buildings affected by catastrophic events. Specifically, this study will be applied to the monumental buildings owned by the Catholic Church that were affected by two earthquakes on May 11, 2011 in the town of Lorca. To estimate the initial total replacement cost new, calculation model will be applied which, on the one hand, will use two-dimensional metric exterior parameters and, on the other, three-dimensional interior cubic parameters. Based on the total of the analyzed buildings, and considering damage caused by the seismic event, the final reconstruction cost for the building units ruined by the earthquakes can be estimated. The proposed calculation model can also be applied to other emergency scenarios and situations for the quick estimation of construction costs necessary for rebuilding historic heritage buildings which have been affected by catastrophic events that deteriorate or ruin their structural or constructive configuration.

Obituary of Carmina Virgili i Rodón (Spanish INHIGEO member)

Carmina Virgili was born in Barcelona, on 19 July 1927, and died in her native town, at the age of eighty seven. Her father, Guillem Virgili was Head of the Revenue Office of the Generalitat of Catalonia, during the second Spanish Republic. He displeased the Catholic community when required by the Catholic Church to pay taxes. Her mother, Carme Rodon, was a pharmacist, and a professor in the Agricultural High School. After the Spanish Civil War, due to their political thoughts, both parents were removed from their workplaces. During her childhood and youth, Virgili stood out as a good student. She did her primary and secondary studies in her hometown, and then she completed teacher training in Tarragona. She obtained her degree in Natural History from the University of Barcelona in 1949, where Carmina Virgili 1927-2014