I did not notice any pressing environmental issues while in
Peru. However, the people of Peru have adapted their lifestyle around the
environment. Roads twist around mountains, going back and forth. Houses are
built into the mountainside despite the difficulty of building on such a steep
slope. You can go all of the way back to Incan times to see how they built
terraces into hillsides for more farming space. The Peruvian people adapt to
their landscape, rather than destroying their landscape to fit their needs. One
day our bus was driving around a mountain and the winding road took at least
half of an hour to travel a mile around the hill due to all of the switchbacks.
I thought to myself, in America we would have drilled a hole through this
tunnel and built a bridge across the neighboring valley to save travel time.
Thousands of tons of dirt would have to be moved in the process, desecrating
the beautiful landscape around it. It led me think about the need for
sustainable engineering in the future. As a prospective civil engineer, it is
very important to build for the future as the buildings and roadways I build
are expected to last for decades. I am so moved by the beauty of the landscape
of Peru that I cannot understate the importance on preserving the environment
on any building projects I will be a part of in the future.
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