Browsing by Author "Tadesse, Mekdes"

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    Analysis of Visitors Willingness to Pay for Recreational Use Value of ''Menagesha Suba'' Forest Park: Application of Contingent Valuation Method
    (Addis Ababa University, 2014-03) Tadesse, Mekdes; Tufa, Adane (PhD)
    Ecosystem service valuation is being developed as a vehicle to integrate ecological understanding and economic considerations to redress the traditional neglect of ecosystem services in policy decisions. One of the benefit that could be generated from ecosystem is recreational service .The Menagesha Suba forest Park, which was found by Emperor Ze'ra Yacob in the 17 th century, located in Oromia regional state 30 KM east of the capital city Addis Ababa, with its natural and cultural values is one of the distinguished potential areas where recreation and tourism activities can be carried out. This study has been undertaken with the objective of determining the recreational and tourism use value of Menagesha Suba Park with using contingent valuation method and examining effective factors affecting users' willingness to pay at the current Condition and for proposed future improvement. The study was aimed at estimating recreational benefits (direct service values) of the park using primary data collected from onsite visitors . A total of 165 usable data were collected from recreationalist using the double bounded dichotomous choice contingency valuation survey using a simple random sampling technique from onsite visitors. After that, the recreational and tourism use values (willingness to pay) for the Park were calculated after doing necessary statistical analysis. According to survey results which conducted in Menagesha Suba Park, the mean willingness to pay recreational use value per visit per person for current situation was estimated to be ETB 46.2 and recreational value after improvement was estimated to be ETB 91.9. The maximum willingness to pay per visit was estimated to be ETB 44.63 per visit for current condition and ETB72.1 for proposed improvement. From the results of the survey ,Initial bide level, income level, being an Ecologist, Quality of the recreational site, age of the respondent and sex of the respondent were found to affect visitors willingness to pay significantly. Furthermore visitors have high willingness to pay for improvement than the current status quo. In conclusion visitors of Menagesha Suba Park are willing to pay higher amount than they are charged currently. The implication is that any policy direction towards the provision of effective recreational service and natural resource conservation should incorporate demand side information. Key words: Tourism, recreation, Menagesha Suba Park, contingent valuation method.
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    “Effects of Spacing and Configuration of Web Reinforcement on shear Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams”
    (Addis Ababa University, 2015-12) Tadesse, Mekdes; G/Youhannes, Esayas (PhD)
    Shear behavior of beams was a major research area for over a century. However due to the fact that this behavior is dictated by different factors, researchers throughout the world have not come into a common understanding of a defined theory for predicting the shear behavior of beams. Spacing and configuration of stirrups has not been given emphasis as one of the factors affecting the shear behavior of beams. In this study, over 12 well-known building codes were examined for their provision of shear capacity calculation. Each of them has the term “spacing” in their provisions. However, in all of this Building Codes, as long as the web reinforcement ratio (area of stirrup/ spacing) is kept the same, altering spacing of stirrups will not result in different shear capacity prediction. Three shear-critical beam specimens were examined through experiment to study whether or not the shear behavior is affected by spacing and configuration of stirrups and it was observed that the shear capacity increases inversely with spacing of stirrups. Analytical simulation was attempted using a non-linear 3D finite element tool called DuCOM-COM3 for a series of shear-critical beams with different arrangement of stirrups and different concrete grades.