Cole LambethEngineering Portfolio

Projects / DukeEngage Asheville

Hurricane Helene Relief

In summer 2026 I spent eight weeks in Asheville, North Carolina, helping communities affected by Hurricane Helene with A Bridge Home and the Beacon Network.

Role
Civil Engineering Intern
Period
Summer 2026, 8 weeks
Location
Buncombe & Yancey Co., NC
Program
DukeEngage
DukeEngage volunteers posing together on a hillside work site
Context

Engineering for homeowners

We applied engineering methods to problems the hurricane left in homeowners' daily lives, from improving drainage with culverts to rebuilding stairs lost to flooding. The work also let us get to know the community and build lasting relationships, and it showed how engineering can help people in need.

Field work

Our efforts

Alongside local outreach, we worked on engineering projects in remote areas of Buncombe and Yancey counties. We:

  • worked alongside field engineers to install more than 10 culverts in flood-prone areas
  • graded sites and stabilized embankments with vegetative and structural methods in areas that had flooded
  • built and stabilized stairs to restore river access for homeowners who rely on the waterways
  • helped with community gardens and local fencing projects

These projects built our engineering skills and showed us the difference those skills can make. Getting to know the homeowners made the work much more meaningful.

An excavator digging beside a large rock while a worker in a hard hat watches
Fig. 1Excavation for drainage work.
A newly placed culvert pipe set into muddy ground
Fig. 2Culvert installation.
Rebuilt stairs leading down a bank to a river
Fig. 3Stairs rebuilt for river access.
The crew sitting together on a rock wall at a work site
Fig. 4The DukeEngage crew.
Blue Ridge mountains under a cloudy sky
Fig. 5Western North Carolina.