Team led by Durham professor helps rebuild north Omaha neighborhood

A team of about a dozen students from The Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, led by Professor James Goedert, took part in the annual Step Into Village One work day in north Omaha on Oct. 5, helping to put a new roof on a garage.

Goedert’s 15-person team included Durham School students and other volunteers, including members of Engineers Without Borders and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Their task was to improve a detached garage by tearing off its old roof and replacing it. Even though the work finished on time, Goedert said, the project didn’t get off to a great start.

When the team arrived, it couldn’t gain access to the house to plug in their equipment because the key and lock weren’t working. After they finally got inside, the team discovered it was limited to using only one working electrical outlet for all of its equipment.

“We knew that if we tried running both the saw and the air compressor, we’d blow a fuse, so we had to run one at a time,” Goedert said. “Using one plug and going back and forth, that caused delays. We weren’t sure we were going to get it all done, and certainly not in five hours. But the team worked hard and we got it done.”

More than 600 volunteers converged on more than 30 north Omaha neighborhoods to perform various construction and clean-up projects as part of the event, which was co-sponsored by Village One, Bridge Church CCC and Abide Ministries.