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Ethiopia: Stranded Truck Halts Gibe II Expansion Project
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Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
22 April 2008
Posted to the web 22 April 2008
Wudineh Zenenbe
Addis Ababa
A special truck carrying a 213tn electric power transformer has been stranded for three weeks in Gibe wasteland, 198Km southwest of Addis Abeba. The 22 axle trailer was unable to maneuver through the narrow and twisted Addis-Jimma Highway and stopped short of reaching its final destination, the project site of Gilgel Gibe II, owned by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).
Gilgel Gibe II, with a generation capacity of 420mw, is a follow up to Gilgel Gibe I, both constructed by the Italian construction firm, Salini Costruttori. Projected to cost 373 million euro, this project does not need its own dam, but uses water from its forerunner after water is channeled through a 26Km tunnel dug under the Fofa Mountain, to Omo Rover Valley.
When completed in 2008 as scheduled, it is believed that this project will enhance Ethiopia's power generation capability by up to 40pc. The project, which was launched in 2004, also incorporates the installation of a high voltage electric line connection to the national grid. This connection line is to be built by the Spanish CYMI-SOCOIN, which has imported the transformer that is now stranded 10Km from the Gibe Bridge.
Those involved in the transportation work hardly thought that curves and twisted passages would become their logistical nightmare and saw their toughest challenges as the 110m long Awash Bridge constructed 40 years ago, and the recently damaged Gibe Bridge. The truck passed through these bridges successfully, owing to the effort by Negussie Tebeje, emeritus professor of the Addis Abeba University.
Authorities were troubled by this truck that was stuck and could move neither backwards nor forwards. An intra-agency committee chaired by Alemayehu Tegenu, minister of Mines and Energy, met on Monday, April 14, and decided that the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) should expand the highway.
"As it stands now, the road will let the trailer pass, and should be widened," Minister Alemayehu, who visited the highway last week, told Fortune.
ERA has now granted the expansion work, projected to cost 10 million Br, to J and P and Dragados, a European joint venture company, which will construct the Addis Abeba-Jimma road at a cost of 600 million Br.
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The expansion work of the mountainous highway in the Gibe wasteland is expected to be completed in two weeks, according to officials involved in the crisis. It involves the expansion of a 36 meter road, including the flattening of sharp curves and expansion of the edges of bridges.
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