Pedestrian Cable Bridges for Ethiopian Rivers
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Date
2005-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Infrastructure is one of the most essential elements of development for any nation. It is
vital for the advancement of economic activities, communication, administration and
social interaction of a country. Like most developing nations, Ethiopia needs to expand
its infrastructure of which the road sector calls for a special attention
Currently, the Ethiopian government is investing billions of Birr on the improvement of
the road sector. This being the case, the amount of money allocated will fall far short of
the total sum of money the country needs to bring the road sector development to an
acceptable level.
The need for the road sector development is of paramount importance to the rural
Ethiopia. These are areas where infrastructure, such as road, bridges,
telecommunications, are necessities. For instance, two nearby villages could be separated
for almost a season, waiting for the abatement of a small river that howls between them.
An attempt to cross this river will result in death of people and their livestock.
To mitigate the problem, the current Ethiopian government, seems to make an effort to
construct roads and bridges that connect rural villages, by allocating a huge sum of
money. The fact remains, however, such an endeavor demands much more money than
the country can afford. Thus, calling for a system which takes cost and efficiency into
account to alleviate the problem at hand.
One of the methods that can be applied, and which has been proven to be efficient in
other countries of a similar geographic context, is the building of low cost cable bridges,
namely, the suspended cable bridges. These bridges have been introduced to our nation
years back by a certain NGO by the name “Bridges for Prosperity” which built four
bridges- two in Addis Ababa and two around Dessie.
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Keywords
Ethiopian; Rivers