Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, is providing engineering and consulting services to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist with manufactured housing unit installations for the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwest South Dakota.
In May 2015, severe storms caused straight line wind and flood damage to homes on the 3,469-square-mile reservation, complicating the substantial pre-storm shortage of tribal housing. FEMA is providing individual assistance as part of the first Presidential disaster declaration made directly to a tribe.
As managing partner of the Partnership for Temporary Housing, LLC (PaTH), Dewberry is assisting FEMA with manufactured housing unit transportation and installation. The firm is designing improvements to installation sites’ well pumps, septic systems, grading, and foundations, and to various gravel and earthen access roads.
A joint venture partnership that includes Parsons Corporation and DynCorp International, the PaTH team continues to adapt installation processes to provide permanent unit installation, clarify scope issues, and delineate responsibilities while addressing tribal employment rights, historic preservation, and environmental protection considerations.
