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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.
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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