Hill and Gleeds prepare to survey damage in devastated Gulf states

Cost experts are starting to be sent to the southern states of America to estimate the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Staff from US firm Hill International has 20 members ready to travel to Louisiana and Mississippi, the two US States affected by the natural catastrophe, which is estimated to have caused $125bn worth of damage. Gleeds’ US operation is also expecting to send staff to the areas later this month.

Stu Richter, senior vice president and head of estimating at Hill International, said initial expectations from the firm’s client, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), were that the clean-up of the coastal areas affected by the hurricane would take at least two years to complete.

Three of the company’s estimators will be going to Mississippi to assess the damage.

He said Hill is on a framework of firms working for FEMA that includes a joint venture between consultant groups Dewberry and URS, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Fluor Daniel.

Richter said: “One of our guys is going down to Jackson Mississippi in the next two to three weeks. There is a week’s training before they actually go to the affected sites. It’s like getting your military papers – you do the training then they decide what to do with you.”

It’s like getting your military papers – you do the training then they decide what to do with you

Stu Richter, senior vice president, Hill Intl

Richter said staff would be likely to live in tents during their stints. “There will be a tent city where people will sleep. It’s not going to be the most comfortable of assignments.” He added that staff would need to be inoculated against disease before travelling.

Richter said it had been difficult to keep the staff up to date of when and where they would be deployed. He said: “It’s hard trying to keep people informed. Once you let them know they get antsy to get there.”

Jeffrey Sueck, vice president at the firm, said the range of skills needed for the clean-up work was wide, ranging from civil engineering consultants to power and chemical experts.

Chris Soffe, head of Gleeds US, said the firm was now bidding to assess damage to commercial buildings. He said: “We are putting a proposal in this week for work.

I think within a week or two we will be looking at properties for specific clients. There will be a flow of stuff after that.”