በአዲስ አበባ ቀላል የባቡር ትራንስፖርት ግንባታ ለማስጀመር የሚያስችል ዝግጅት ተጠናቀቀ



አዲስ አበባ፤ ጥር 15/2004 (ዋኢማ) - የአዲስ አበባ ከተማን የህዝብ ትራንስፖርት እጥረት ለመፍታት የተለያዩ የመፍትሄ አቅጣጫዎች ተቀይሰው ተግባራዊ እየተደረጉ ይገኛሉ፡፡

የትራንስፖርት እጥረቱ በዘላቂነት ለመፍታትም የቀላል የከተማ ባቡር አገልግሎትን ለማስጀመር የፕሮጀክት ዝርዝር ጥናት፣ የዲዛይን ዝግጅት፣ የማስፈፀሚያ ገንዘብ ማፈላለግና ተያያዥ ስራዎች ሲካሄዱ ቆይተዋል፡፡

በኢትዮጵያ ምድር ባቡር ኮርፖሬሽን የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር ትራንስፖርት ፕሮጀክት ስራ አስኪያጅ አቶ የኋላሸት ጀመረ እንደገለፁት የዝግጅት ስራዎች በአብዛኛው በመጠናቀቃቸው አሁን ፕሮጀክቱ ወደ ግንባታ ምዕራፍ መሸጋገር ጀምሯል፡፡

በፕሮጀክቱ የመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ ከአያት አደባባይ እስከ ጦር ሀይሎች ቀለበት መንገድ እና ከሚኒሊክ አደባባይ በመርካቶ ልደታ መስቀል አደባባይ ቃሊቲ የሚዘረጋው ሀዲድ ይገኝበታል፡፡ ርዝመቱም 134 ኪሎ ሜትር ይደርሳል፡፡

ግንባታውን የሚያካሄደው የቻይናው CREC ኩባንያም አያት አካባቢ ፕሮጀክቱ ሲጠናቀቅ ለባቡር መናኽሪያነት የሚያገለግል ቦታ ተረክቦ ጊዜያዊ ማእከል መገንባት ጀምሯል፡፡ በተለምዶ መሿለኪያ በሚባለው አካባቢም ለሀድድ ግንባታው አስፈላጊ የሆኑ የኮንክሪትና ተያያዥ ቁሳቁሶች ማምረቻ ፋብሪካ የመትከያ ቦታ እያዘጋጀ ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ምድር ባቡር ኮርፖሬሽን ዋና ስራ አስኪያጅ ዶክተር ኢንጅነር ጌታቸው በትሩ እንደገለፁት አብዛኛው የቁፋሮና ለሀዲድ ግንባታው የመሬት ዝግጅት ስራ የሚከናወነው በሀገር ውስጥ ተቋራጮች ነው፡፡ ይህም ለቴክኖሎጂ ሽግግር ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅኦ ይኖረዋል ነው ያሉት፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር አገልግሎት የመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ ግንባታ በ30 ወራት ውስጥ እንደሚጠናቀቅ ይጠበቃል፡፡

እንደ ኢራቴቪ ዘገባ የከተማ ባቡር ትራንስፖር አገልግሎት እያንዳንዳቸው 286 ሰው የመጫን አቅም ባላቸው 41 ባቡሮች ሲጀመር በአንድ ሰአት ጊዜ በአራቱም አቅጣጫዎች እስከ 60 ሺ ሰው ለማጓጓዝ ያስችላል፡፡ ይህም የከተማውን የዝህብ ትራንስፖርት ችግር በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ያቃልለዋል ነው የተባለው፡፡

በህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የትራንስፖርት ጉዳዮች ቋሚ ኮሚቴ ፕሮጀክቱ አሁን ያለበትን የአፈጻጸም ደረጃ ጎብኝቷል፡፡

የቋሚ ኮሚቴው ሰብሳቢ ወ/ሮ ሙፈሪያት ካሚል በበኩላቸው ፕሮጀክቱ በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ቢዘገይም አሁን በተያዘው ፍጥነት ከቀጠለ ለሚፈለገው ውጤት ሊደርስ እንደሚችል ተናግረዋል፡፡

የባቡር ትራንስፖርት አገልግሎቱ ስራ ሲጀመር ቢበዛ በአንድ ኪሎ ሜትር ርቀት ላይ ፌርማታ ይኖረዋል፡፡ እያንዳንዱ መንገደኛም ለተጓዘበት ኪሎሜትር ብቻ እንደሚከፍልና ባቡር ያመለጠው ቀጣዩን ባቡር ለመጠበቅ የሚፈጀው ጊዜ ቢበዛ 6 ደቂቃ ብቻ እንደሚሆን የፕሮጀክቱ አስተባባሪ አብራርተዋል፡፡

video: http://www.ethiotube.net/video/17565/Addis-Light-Railway-Construction-Started

I thought this forum needs a separate thread for the tarns-national heavy duty, freight rail project and for the light city rail project.

video: http://www.ethiotube.net/video/17565/Addis-Light-Railway-Construction-Started
Thanks for link. The construction is scheduled to be finished within 30 months, I'm counting on 2 years but it's still great. :cheers:

I thought this forum needs a separate thread for the tarns-national heavy duty, freight rail project and for the light city rail project.
I agree.

I wonder where they will construct the service and inspection yard for the rail cars... Anybody knows?

Is the rail transit system going to tie in to the bus transit system?

I wonder where they will construct the service and inspection yard for the rail cars... Anybody knows?

Is the rail transit system going to tie in to the bus transit system?
The amharic text says they will construct the service and inspection yard (service depots as we call them in the UK) near Ayat.

Is the rail transit system going to tie in to the bus transit system http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6762564077_b46fc4798c_m.jpg
http://http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6762604987_795d0bd37d_m.jpg
Since the two lines criss cross the city passing through the old part of the city Im sure it is possible for commuters to use them for their transits, for example if you get off at a station near Meskel Square, Minilik Square or Legehar, you can find a bus to anywhere in the city.

True the public can get off any station and walk to the closest bus station.

I was curious to know if there is a systematic integration of the bus and future transit system. Here in the US, "rapid transit" is usually run by one agency for utmost efficiency.

For example, if you run LRT from tor hayloch hospital to ayat, you may not need to run as many buses along this main transit line but away from it originating & terminating at the statons.

I am sure the anbesa bus and ERC will coordinate and streamline their operations.

True the public can get off any station and walk to the closest bus station.

I was curious to know if there is a systematic integration of the bus and future transit system. Here in the US, "rapid transit" is usually run by one agency for utmost efficiency.

For example, if you run LRT from tor hayloch hospital to ayat, you may not need to run as many buses along this main transit line but away from it originating & terminating at the statons.

I am sure the anbesa bus and ERC will coordinate and streamline their operations.
I think, what you are saying is that the LR will act like a main canal for the flow of traffic, and the buses will act as somthing like irrigation canals that will take their feed from the railwy( which is the main canal). It would be nice if they use it like that, but I doubt in its current design, the LR will be capable of being the primary source of transporation for Addis citizens, its current design is primarly to relif the pressure on the motor transport in the city, for that to happen I think they need to construct more additional lins that reach to various destinations in the city, im sure they will build more in the future,(even underground metro lines) but for now, I think two lines is a good beginning.

Is this light rail in the sense that western nations refer to it, or light rail according to Asia standards? Am wondering since this is being built by a Chinese company. Chinese light rail is often considered to be elevated metros in the west.

Is this light rail in the sense that western nations refer to it, or light rail according to Asia standards? Am wondering since this is being built by a Chinese company. Chinese light rail is often considered to be elevated metros in the west.

I hope they will build it to a good standard ,though not all of it,some of the line will run on elevated rails. you can view this video. just follow this link i posted below. most of the video is just interviews but it also shows the design briefly.


http://www.ethiotube.net/video/17565...uction-Started

I really hope the trams are going to be as sleek as they look on the video.

በአዲስ አበባ ቀላል የባቡር ትራንስፖርት ግንባታ ለማስጀመር የሚያስችል ዝግጅት ተጠናቀቀ



አዲስ አበባ፤ ጥር 15/2004 (ዋኢማ) - የአዲስ አበባ ከተማን የህዝብ ትራንስፖርት እጥረት ለመፍታት የተለያዩ የመፍትሄ አቅጣጫዎች ተቀይሰው ተግባራዊ እየተደረጉ ይገኛሉ፡፡

የትራንስፖርት እጥረቱ በዘላቂነት ለመፍታትም የቀላል የከተማ ባቡር አገልግሎትን ለማስጀመር የፕሮጀክት ዝርዝር ጥናት፣ የዲዛይን ዝግጅት፣ የማስፈፀሚያ ገንዘብ ማፈላለግና ተያያዥ ስራዎች ሲካሄዱ ቆይተዋል፡፡

በኢትዮጵያ ምድር ባቡር ኮርፖሬሽን የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር ትራንስፖርት ፕሮጀክት ስራ አስኪያጅ አቶ የኋላሸት ጀመረ እንደገለፁት የዝግጅት ስራዎች በአብዛኛው በመጠናቀቃቸው አሁን ፕሮጀክቱ ወደ ግንባታ ምዕራፍ መሸጋገር ጀምሯል፡፡

በፕሮጀክቱ የመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ ከአያት አደባባይ እስከ ጦር ሀይሎች ቀለበት መንገድ እና ከሚኒሊክ አደባባይ በመርካቶ ልደታ መስቀል አደባባይ ቃሊቲ የሚዘረጋው ሀዲድ ይገኝበታል፡፡ ርዝመቱም 134 ኪሎ ሜትር ይደርሳል፡፡

ግንባታውን የሚያካሄደው የቻይናው CREC ኩባንያም አያት አካባቢ ፕሮጀክቱ ሲጠናቀቅ ለባቡር መናኽሪያነት የሚያገለግል ቦታ ተረክቦ ጊዜያዊ ማእከል መገንባት ጀምሯል፡፡ በተለምዶ መሿለኪያ በሚባለው አካባቢም ለሀድድ ግንባታው አስፈላጊ የሆኑ የኮንክሪትና ተያያዥ ቁሳቁሶች ማምረቻ ፋብሪካ የመትከያ ቦታ እያዘጋጀ ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ምድር ባቡር ኮርፖሬሽን ዋና ስራ አስኪያጅ ዶክተር ኢንጅነር ጌታቸው በትሩ እንደገለፁት አብዛኛው የቁፋሮና ለሀዲድ ግንባታው የመሬት ዝግጅት ስራ የሚከናወነው በሀገር ውስጥ ተቋራጮች ነው፡፡ ይህም ለቴክኖሎጂ ሽግግር ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅኦ ይኖረዋል ነው ያሉት፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር አገልግሎት የመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ ግንባታ በ30 ወራት ውስጥ እንደሚጠናቀቅ ይጠበቃል፡፡

እንደ ኢራቴቪ ዘገባ የከተማ ባቡር ትራንስፖር አገልግሎት እያንዳንዳቸው 286 ሰው የመጫን አቅም ባላቸው 41 ባቡሮች ሲጀመር በአንድ ሰአት ጊዜ በአራቱም አቅጣጫዎች እስከ 60 ሺ ሰው ለማጓጓዝ ያስችላል፡፡ ይህም የከተማውን የዝህብ ትራንስፖርት ችግር በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ያቃልለዋል ነው የተባለው፡፡

በህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የትራንስፖርት ጉዳዮች ቋሚ ኮሚቴ ፕሮጀክቱ አሁን ያለበትን የአፈጻጸም ደረጃ ጎብኝቷል፡፡

የቋሚ ኮሚቴው ሰብሳቢ ወ/ሮ ሙፈሪያት ካሚል በበኩላቸው ፕሮጀክቱ በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ቢዘገይም አሁን በተያዘው ፍጥነት ከቀጠለ ለሚፈለገው ውጤት ሊደርስ እንደሚችል ተናግረዋል፡፡

የባቡር ትራንስፖርት አገልግሎቱ ስራ ሲጀመር ቢበዛ በአንድ ኪሎ ሜትር ርቀት ላይ ፌርማታ ይኖረዋል፡፡ እያንዳንዱ መንገደኛም ለተጓዘበት ኪሎሜትር ብቻ እንደሚከፍልና ባቡር ያመለጠው ቀጣዩን ባቡር ለመጠበቅ የሚፈጀው ጊዜ ቢበዛ 6 ደቂቃ ብቻ እንደሚሆን የፕሮጀክቱ አስተባባሪ አብራርተዋል፡፡

How can i understand this :colbert:

lol

Quick translation:

- Several projects are underway to resolve the transportation shortage in Addis
- Among them is the light rail project - and feasibility studies, gathering funding, and other related activities have been ongoing for a while
- Currently most of the preliminary work is complete, so construction of the light rail has begun
- The 1st phase of the project is the line from the Ayat roundabout to the ring road at Tor Hailoch, as well as the line from the Menelik roundabout to Kaliti, by way of Lideta. That's a total length of 134 km (I doubt the accuracy of this number!)
- The Chinese company CREC is responsible for the construction, and it is building a temporary depot in Ayat; a permanent train depot will be built eventually on the same spot.
- They are also building a factory for concrete and other inputs in Megenagna
- The general manager of the rail corp has indicated the project will serve to transfer technology since most of the prep work will be done by locals
- The 1st phase of the project will be completed in 30 months
- There will be 41 trains, with each capable of handling 286 passengers at a time, so 60,000 passengers can be served per hour
- There will be train stops at least every km - trains will come every 6 minutes, or less - passengers will pay per km traveled.


That's basically it.

^^ Merci de te donner l'effort de nous traduire sa

So construction started? This is exciting :cheers:

lol

Quick translation:

- Several projects are underway to resolve the transportation shortage in Addis
- Among them is the light rail project - and feasibility studies, gathering funding, and other related activities have been ongoing for a while
- Currently most of the preliminary work is complete, so construction of the light rail has begun
- The 1st phase of the project is the line from the Ayat roundabout to the ring road at Tor Hailoch, as well as the line from the Menelik roundabout to Kaliti, by way of Lideta. That's a total length of 134 km (I doubt the accuracy of this number!)
- The Chinese company CREC is responsible for the construction, and it is building a temporary depot in Ayat; a permanent train depot will be built eventually on the same spot.
- They are also building a factory for concrete and other inputs in Megenagna
- The general manager of the rail corp has indicated the project will serve to transfer technology since most of the prep work will be done by locals
- The 1st phase of the project will be completed in 30 months
- There will be 41 trains, with each capable of handling 286 passengers at a time, so 60,000 passengers can be served per hour
- There will be train stops at least every km - trains will come every 6 minutes, or less - passengers will pay per km traveled.


That's basically it.

Thanks abesha :hug:

De rien Ras Siyan and you're welcome Boy Gaga. ;)

Yes construction has already started :banana:
We'll have a proper tramway in 30 months (about mid-2014).

I think Fkebede meant to post these:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6762604987_795d0bd37d_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6762564077_b46fc4798c_b.jpg

^^When they say National Heavy Rail (Future Extension), I wonder what they mean.

Are we planning on having inter-regional rapid transit system? I'm not sure they're using the term properly.

The national railways network is what they mean (you know, the 5000km u/c). Eventually the light rail will connect to the national rail network (as in, there will be a transfer point) so passengers will not have to take a bus or taxi to board a train bound for Mekelle or Awassa.

The national railways network is what they mean (you know, the 5000km u/c). Eventually the light rail will connect to the national rail network (as in, there will be a transfer point) so passengers will not have to take a bus or taxi to board a train bound for Mekelle or Awassa.

So, let me get this straight. The 5000km network is for passengers and not freight?

^^When they say National Heavy Rail (Future Extension), I wonder what they mean.

Are we planning on having inter-regional rapid transit system? I'm not sure they're using the term properly.

Hersh,

Even my goat knows what 'heavy rail' is! :ohno:

Simply put, heavy rails have larger capacities than light rails and they are most suitable for cross country transportation. In urban area, heavy rails must never mix with traffic as they are not able to break ubruptly. Therefore, you will only see them in urban areas as subways and elevated trains.

Light Rails, on the other hand, have lower capacities and can be mixed with traffic since they can break with relative ease.

So, let me get this straight. The 5000km network is for passengers and not freight?

My goodness, are you seriouse!

So, let me get this straight. The 5000km network is for passengers and not freight?

What? No, of course it's for freight. And probably passengers too.

It's like going to Penn Station with the subway (in our case, light rail) and then switching to Amtrak (the heavy rail). I don't know how I can explain it other than that.

Hersh,

Even my goat knows what 'heavy rail' is! :ohno:

Simply put, heavy rails have larger capacities than light rails and they are most suitable for cross country transportation. In urban area, heavy rails must never mix with traffic as they are not able to break ubruptly. Therefore, you will only see them in urban areas as subways and elevated trains.

Light Rails, on the other hand, have lower capacities and can be mixed with traffic since they can break with relative ease.

Thanks for answering an unasked question. I am perfectly aware of what Heavy Rail entails. The "heavy" in heavy rail indeed refers to carrying capacity (i.e. heavy traffic volume), and not the actual train itself. It is also called "Rapid Transit," as I explicitly stated in my original statement. I don't know what part of that was unclear to you.



My goodness, are you seriouse!

No, but I'm serious.

Wow abesha is doing good on the project and construction thread better then the boys lol

What? No, of course it's for freight. And probably passengers too.

It's like going to Penn Station with the subway (in our case, light rail) and then switching to Amtrak (the heavy rail). I don't know how I can explain it other than that.

I know what Heavy Rail is. That's not what I was confused about. I just didn't know if this network was meant for passengers or for freight. My assumption was that it was meant for freight.

I don't know how they could realistically share between the two. Amtrak has its own network, as do Norfolk Southern and CSX, if I'm not wrong.

I don't know how they could realistically share between the two. Amtrak has its own network, as do Norfolk Southern and CSX, if I'm not wrong.
Both freight and passenger traffic shares the same network here in Sweden, with freight trains going when the passenger traffic is low (early mornings or late at night).

I think Fkebede meant to post these:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6762604987_795d0bd37d_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6762564077_b46fc4798c_b.jpg

thank you hersh , I don't know why the images I post always shrink in size.

Thanks for answering an unasked question. I am perfectly aware of what Heavy Rail entails. The "heavy" in heavy rail indeed refers to carrying capacity (i.e. heavy traffic volume), and not the actual train itself. It is also called "Rapid Transit," as I explicitly stated in my original statement. I don't know what part of that was unclear to you.

No Hersh.

'Rapid Transit' does not mean 'heavy rail'. :bash:

Rapid means fast and heavy means 'kebad'!

...
- The Chinese company CREC is responsible for the construction, and it is building a temporary depot in Ayat; a permanent train depot will be built eventually on the same spot.
- They are also building a factory for concrete and other inputs in Megenagna

....


the abandoned Ethio-Djibouti railyards near Meshualekia is most likely the location for this...

Both freight and passenger traffic shares the same network here in Sweden, with freight trains going when the passenger traffic is low (early mornings or late at night).

I thought you reside in US?

I thought you reside in US?
Nope, I'm from the land of Volvo, Ikea and natural blondes. :)

I assume the LRT system is going to run in the middle of a roadway. I see on pics that there is some space left in the middle hence my assumption. Hopefully the road guys coordinated with the rail guys.

Imagine a station at the middle of the roadway. With a large volume of people coming in and out and trying to cross a busy roadway... Most likely they looked into all that and have a solution.

I assume the LRT system is going to run in the middle of a roadway. I see on pics that there is some space left in the middle hence my assumption. Hopefully the road guys coordinated with the rail guys.

Imagine a station at the middle of the roadway. With a large volume of people coming in and out and trying to cross a busy roadway... Most likely they looked into all that and have a solution.
+1

Kyohann, I've been thinking about that. Knowing these guys, I wouldn't bet on there being a plan :ohno:

I'm most worried about people trying to cross the tracks right in front of trains. People have no issues doing that on the ring road with heels on and carrying kids, so rails will be nothing more than a speed bump for the people.

abesha, we do have the issue of people trying to cross a live rail tracks in the urban area here in the states. In Dallas, we have resolved it by placing a positive barrier like a 6' (~2 meter) high chain link fence. There is also the issue of high voltage, theft, .... We face that even here in the US. They must place some positive barriers or a lot of people will get hurt.

The other issue we faced in Houston is vehicles trying to turn and running into trains at the medians. This is an epic problem when you have LRT running in the middle. It took a while until houstonians adjusted to it. They had all these problems with advanced traffic signaling. Imagine Addis... Maybe they will use gates at the median crossings??

We always design and build LRT together with adjacent roads so that it is a system design that gives the best flexibility, coordination, and needed adjustments. I do not think they are doing that in Addis. The road from tor hiloch to megenagna is being design by CORE. I do not know who is designing the LRT.

It is usually best to isolate LRT as much as you can.

I am not bashing here, just raising concerns that might have been already resolved. It is great to see the ambitions to solve transport problems by using LRT but I am not sure if we have a matured and coordinated transportation system in Addis to handle the introduction of another mode of transport.

ITA with everything you said. Let's hope they're planning for all of this. Otherwise accidents and deaths will be multiplying as soon as these trains operate :ohno:

I assume the LRT system is going to run in the middle of a roadway. I see on pics that there is some space left in the middle hence my assumption. Hopefully the road guys coordinated with the rail guys.

Imagine a station at the middle of the roadway. With a large volume of people coming in and out and trying to cross a busy roadway... Most likely they looked into all that and have a solution.

Indeed. I remember when they started building all the newer roads around 2005-06, they said they were leaving large gaps in between the roads for future rail expansion, so it's been planned in tandem with the newer road developments.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74561619@N02/6810490045/in/photostream/ south bound LRT road way from meskel sq. near st.Josef school.

Thanks Vildana, we all hope for the best that it will all work out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74561619@N02/6810490045/in/photostream/ south bound LRT road way from meskel sq. near st.Josef school.


it looks like this is part of the north-south line where they've been leaving 15-meter wide spaces for the tracks
(http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_12_No_596_Archive/Core%20to%20Design%20Road%20for%20Light%20Railway%20Train.htm)...

with an average width of a light rail car say around 3 meters, it'll be interesting how they will accommodate:

- both (north/south) tracks,
- space between them &
- (safe) passenger boarding areas at both ends

within that 15 meters or so...

Great project!!

በአዲስ አበባ ቀላል የባቡር ትራንስፖርት ግንባታ ለማስጀመር የሚያስችል ዝግጅት ተጠናቀቀ

:dance2::dance2::dance2:

No Hersh.

'Rapid Transit' does not mean 'heavy rail'. :bash:

Rapid means fast and heavy means 'kebad'!

Lol@This guy. What is the world coming to? A freshie is attempting to teach me English. It's admirable, I must say. Thanks for the laugh, Skyliner123.:lol: I needed that.

Now, I admit I honestly don't know why you seem to be in over your head with this, since it is something so ridiculously basic. All I can guess is that maybe this is a consequence of thinking in Amharic and translating it to English.

As I stated before, the "heavy" in Heavy Rail does not refer to the weight of the trains. The word "heavy," in this context, is in reference to the amount of traffic it manages at any given time. When one says they experienced "heavy traffic" in the morning, nobody is talking about the collective weight of the vehicles on the road. It just means there is "a lot of" traffic (i.e movement of people/vehicles) on the road. In other words, Heavy Traffic means the Movement of Persons in Great Quantity. Heavy Rail would thus loosely be translated to Railroad Vehicle(s) Which Allow(s) for the Movement of Persons in Great Quantity.

That's it. In fact, often times--ironically enough--Light Rail vehicles are actually heavier in weight than Heavy Rail.

As for your "Kebad" reference, "Kebad" has strict limitation in the context in which it is used---that is, it is almost always is used in reference to weight, not quantity.

Now, with that said, I actually never even suggested that Rapid Transit translated to Heavy Rail. That's just some silly characterization you just conjured up to start an argument. Rapid Transit is just another name for Heavy Rail, as is Trolly for Light Rail. Just like an Automobile is also called Ground Transportation. It doesn't mean they are translations of each other.


I realize I was verbose with my response. But I just wanted to make sure I explained this as plainly as possible so that it doesn't turn into an unnecessary back and forth.

Next time you're in doubt, just ask. Don't make unnecessarily inane commentary that should otherwise have remained trivial.

Cheers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74561619@N02/6810490045/in/photostream/ south bound LRT road way from meskel sq. near st.Josef school.

I wondered what that was for! there's a "home depot" nearby lol

Let me throw my 1 cent worth of comments on the light, heavy, and rapid transit discussion.

I agree heavy rail is not related to the weight of the train. It is related to the volume of passengers it moves. Usually heavy rail is powered by what is call third rail system which uses electric as a source. Since a third rail gets its electricity from the rail system it is always grade separated for safety reasons. By grade separated it means bridges, tunnels, or a solid physical barrier. Heavy rail usually moves a very high volume of passengers, goes longer distance, and is more comfortable. Prime example is the BART system in the bay area. BART is considered to be a heavy rail train system.

Freight is a system that moves heavy commodities. It always has a much higher wheel loads. If you look at structures that carry freight rail, they have short and stout spans. To compare an axle load, for freight is 80K pound compared to 30K pound for a light passenger train. Heavy passenger rail can share the same corridor with frt rail. For example in the north east US where Amtrak uses the same corridor with freight and local passenger train.

Light rail is a transit system that carries less people. It usually uses an overhead catenary system. It does not usually go a very long distance like passenger or heavy rail. It does not need to be grade separated at intersections. If we take the Bay area system, the light rail system of San Fran and Oakland feed from the heavy, intercity, BART system.

One level lighter you have the trolly system. Again this is used to serve neighborhoods and uses the same roads as cars. It usually feeds from the Light rail system.

The big daddy of all is High speed rail. This system is totally separated from everything, travels very long distance, fast, and uses electricity. I am not sure about weight since I never worked on one.

Rapid transit includes all the above and rapid bus system, High Occupancy vehicles (HOV) lanes, and any other rapid high volume systems.

Keep in mind the term between light and heavy rail is always been debated. Every agency may have their own interpretation.

Hope this helps

There is a bit of a debate going on between the Addis LRT folks and some experts at ERC.

The Addis LRT folks have approved a design incorporated ballasted laid tracks, the Ethiopian Railway Corp. expert is saying that it is not appropriate for an urban area and they should use concrete sleeper tracks.

City rail standards spark off debate



An expert with the Ethiopian Railway Corporation has raised concerns regarding the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which is going to be constructed here in Addis Ababa, saying that it does not adhere to international standards. The project manager on his part refuted the accusation stating that the Corporation is applying the best technology in the world. The Reporter learned that the Ethiopian Railway Corporation has decided that 70 percent (25 km) of Addis Ababa’s LRT will be built on ballasted (gravel) tracks. However, the expert, who requested anonymity, told The Reporter that the construction of ballasted tracks in capital cities like Addis Ababa is not convenient in terms of view intrusion, health and safety, track maintenance, operating cost and derailment costs.

According to him, currently railway professionals prefer concrete sleeper tracks to ballasted tracks when it comes to the construction of LRT. The cost of concrete sleeper tracks is a bit expensive than ballasted tracks. The construction cost for 1.6 km-long ballasted tracks and concrete sleeper track are USD 1,166,000 and USD 1,292,000, respectively. That means 25km concrete sleeper track can be built for an additional approximate cost of USD 2 million.

The expert indicated that ballastless tracks (concrete slab tracks) help to eliminate the evils of dust and noise pollution and have been proven to be suitable for LRT. He also said that ballastless tracks are advantageous for they have high elasticity, high maintainability at a relatively low cost and high noise absorption.

The expert, who said that a ballasted track needs everyday maintenance activities, urged senior government officials to intervene before the project is translated into practice. Yehualashet Jemere, Addis Ababa LRT project manager, on his part dismissed the allegations saying that the corporation has selected the best technology in the world.

He also added that the corporation decided to use ballasted track not because it is cheap but because it is perfect. “Ballasted track is easy for maintenance. Experts from St. Petersburg University have advised us to use the Chinese technology. Concrete sleeper tracks are usually exposed to cracking. We are a very poor country and we don’t want to take such kind of risk,” he said.

On the other hand some experts have expressed concern about the safety of the ballasted track. According to them, some people might take the broken stone from the track for their own use. Yehualashet does not agree with this. He said that the ballasted track that is going to build here in Addis will be isolated by a fence.

“It is well protected. We don’t compromise safety and technology. That is why it took us a very long time to make the decision,” he added.

Reorter (http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/city-rail-standards-spark-off-debate.html)

So they are going to put up fences along the entire network?? I don't see how that's a good idea. How are pedestrians going to move around??

If they're going to build it at all, they should build it right. Not some crap that will need to be redone in a few years. If they can't afford to do it well, it's better not to do it at all! Put the money in projects like a BRT system and buying more buses.

I think it should be a balance between the two systems. In a central business district or "downtown" areas, we typically use track slab (non-ballasted). We use ballasted system in all other areas.

The price difference that is stated in the article between the two systems is too low. Track slab is EXPENSIVE to construct.

Fencing is a must, especially in high speed areas. Otherwise, people are going to get killed. This things can't break like vehicles.

Does anyone know who is the design consultant for the LRT system in Addis?

slab track system

GMeM6WaNvTU

Cool stuff Roha

It appear to be a hybrid of two systems

They sound confused. Ballasted tracks (especially the "Chinese technology" he is referring to) still rely on concrete ties/sleepers. Just because you don't necessarily use Concrete slabs doesn't mean you aren't necessarily using concrete or enjoying its relative stability.

I think he's imagining old, US style tracks with wooden ties. Roha's vid showed the hybrid system. This is want he wants:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Feste_Fahrbahn_FFB%C3%B6gl.jpg/640px-Feste_Fahrbahn_FFB%C3%B6gl.jpg

And this is what he thinks we're getting:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Railroad_tieswoodconcrete.jpg/640px-Railroad_tieswoodconcrete.jpg

Pictures for the ballasted track and the embedded slab track slab is shown on the Reporter's Article.

I think the "expert" has a US background because his price reference is based on a mile. I disagree with him with the price difference he mentioned in the article. Embedded slab track slab is 75% to 100% more expensive than a ballasted track. On one urban project I worked on slab track was 450% more expensive than ballasted track. I do not understand the reason why he went to the press with some weak argument.

There is a lot of things to consider when deciding on areas for slab track and ballasted track, but making the entire system slab track will bring the project to a halt. It appears to me that about 30% of the alignment is on slab track so we can infer that the city has identified areas for slab track.

The dude is on cloud 9. He wants a Bentley while we can only afford a toyota.

Military to Vacate Meshualekia Camp for Light Rail Project Office

http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_12_No_621_Images/old_military_base_at_meshualekia.jpg
The old buildings of the military camp will serve the public in a new way, moving from the defence to the transportation sector, though some of the offices may have to be demolished to make way for equipment and materials.


[..]
China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, a subsidiary of China Railway Group Ltd, will take it over, using it for non-military purposes for the first time. Giant construction machinery will be among the materials to be stored there, according to an official at the Railway Corporation.

[..]

The camp will be both a storage area and the North to South Addis Abeba Light Rail Project Office for the Chinese company, the main project office located next to the British Embassy, at Fikremarian Aba Techan Street.

The electrified light rail will include two lines, the North-South and East-West, 16.9kms and 17.35kms long respectively, with a capacity of 80 passengers per hour. The 9.2km Torhayloch-Megenagna line was designed by Core Consulting Engineers Plc for 3.6 million Br. The remaining 8.2km from Megenagna to Ayat was also designed by Core in a separate conract. There will be tracks from Lideta through AtkiltTera to Merkato and from Meskel Square to Kality. Sixty percent of the financing is obtained from the Chinese government, the rest coming from the government of Ethiopia. The entire project is expected to cost 400 million dollars.

read the rest @Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Military%20to%20Vacate%20Meshualekia%20Camp%20for%20Light%20Rail%20Project%20Office.htm)

0fPpOOe3E1Q

Accidently stumbled on this article, Addis L.Rail project
http://www.unep.org/transport/pcfv/PDF/icct_2012/LRT_Yehualaeshet_Jemere_ERC.pdf

From Diretube Facebook Page
Urael
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/149108_10151296099579587_1551870012_n.jpg
Mexico
http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/599961_10151294697734587_1187683972_n.jpg

^^ Niceeeeee :banana: I can't wait until they finish .Addis will look totally different.
Well on the route from Giorgis to Autobus terra they are planning to make the route underground .To do that they are removing the Menelik II and the Abune Petros statue temporarly, and that is creating a big public aproar.

^^Nice:)

I don't know what the fuss is about if it's temporary. I think the problem is that they don't trust the government, or rumors about this not being a temporary move might be spreading.

It's probably something like that. But for their dismissal of HS I think even the government wouldn't dare to lambaste Menelik, much less Abune Petros. Remember they put up a monument to Tewodros, after all.

I also like the "chopped up TGV" they seem to be proposing. :rofl:

Yesterday they say on walta info. that the work will not affect Menelik statu by any means as it is not even on the way of the project and Abune Petros statue will be temporarily removed and once the underground tunnel work is done it will be erected again but like you guys said the whole thing is creating a big public uproar. It is just that people do not trust the government when it comes to such historical and heritage reservation works.

Addis Ababa, November 30 (WIC) – Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC) revealed details of the Addis Light Rail Project around Adwa and St Abune Petros squares, which were centers of confusion recently.

The detailed design shows the rail route, which commences from Adwa Square, will be an underground tunnel stretching up to two kilometers. �

“As a result, the statue of King Menelik will remain intact,” Dr Getachew Betru, director of ERC, said at a press conference held jointly with other stakeholders on Thursday, November 29, 2012.
The corporation plans to complete 42 percent of the total project this budget year, including 80 percent of soil and civil works.
link (http://waltainfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6462:details-of-addis-light-rail-project-around-adwa-st-abune-petros-sq-emerge&catid=71:editors-pick&Itemid=396)
http://waltainfo.com/images/nov_2012/rail_project.jpg

If this project is completed on time, it will be a big plus for the government.

link (http://waltainfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6462:details-of-addis-light-rail-project-around-adwa-st-abune-petros-sq-emerge&catid=71:editors-pick&Itemid=396)
http://waltainfo.com/images/nov_2012/rail_project.jpg

If this project is completed on time, it will be a big plus for the government.

Will there be actual subway stations in the tunnel?

"Addis Ababa Light Railway Construction is Progressing Well"

http://www.diretube.com/ethiopian-news/addis-ababa-light-railway-construction-is-progressing-well-video_8965e54b3.html

20% of the city rail project has been done so far according to "The Reporter" and ETV news report yesterday. I was really impressed by the ongoing work they showed on ETV and the hope expressed by the Swedish consultancy company that has taken charge of checking the project's quality of the ongoing work.

http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/media/k2/items/cache/84ac056b57dd032fcf18a346d4a81feb_L.jpg

የባቡሩ ሃያ ምዕራፎች

መኪኖች በአዲስ አበባ መንገዶች ተቀጣጥለው መቆም ከጀመሩ ሰነባብተዋል፡፡ ታክሲዎች በመንገድ ሥራ እያሳበቡ የራሳቸውን ታሪፍ ማውጣትና ማስከፈል ካመጡም ረፈድ ብሏል፡፡

የሥራ መግቢያና የስብሰባዎች መጀመርያ ሰዓት በስምምነት ወደኋላ መሸጋሸግ ይታይባቸው ከያዘ ውሎ አድሯል፡፡

ይህ ሁሉ ከመንገድ ቁፋሮዎች ጋር እየተያያዘ በመንገድ እንደቆሙ ማርፈድ ስለበዛ፣ የአዲስ አበቤውን ሆደ ሰፊነት በግንባታ ያሰለቹት ቻይኖቻችንና መንግሥት ይማጠናሉ፡፡ የከተማው ነዋሪ ለእስካሁኑ ትዕግስቱ ምስጋና ሲቸረው መስማት፣ በየግንባታ ቦታው የተለጠፉ የምስጋና መልዕክቶችን ማንበብ ወግ ሆኖ ይታያል፡፡ ....... To read the whole story, Go to



www.ethiopianreporter.com

Very good job :applause::applause: Now those water and sewerage authorities move the water pipe on Haile Gebreselassie rd. it could be finished on time .

Chinese contractor expresses concerns for project delay
China Railway Group Limited (CREC), the contractor of the Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, fears a delay due to major hindrances the project is facing from the government.

A year after the commencement of the project, Cai Qinhao, deputy project manager of the CREC, told local journalists last Thursday that given the two-year remaining completion period of the LRT project (January 31, 2015), it will be hard to realize it. According to Qinhao, his apprehension is related to the current delays of the government in constructing some six fly-overs crucial to the LRT that stretch in two lines of rail tracks.
http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/chinese-contractor-expresses-concerns-for-project-delay.html

Just like France telecome took over the management of ETC, couldn't China's government take over management of the administration in Addis Ababa. I would seriously support that move.

Typical African style. No wonder the Chinese dont trust Africans to get work done!

20% of the city rail project has been done so far according to "The Reporter" and ETV news report yesterday. I was really impressed by the ongoing work they showed on ETV and the hope expressed by the Swedish consultancy company that has taken charge of checking the project's quality of the ongoing work.

http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/media/k2/items/cache/84ac056b57dd032fcf18a346d4a81feb_L.jpg

የባቡሩ ሃያ ምዕራፎች

መኪኖች በአዲስ አበባ መንገዶች ተቀጣጥለው መቆም ከጀመሩ ሰነባብተዋል፡፡ ታክሲዎች በመንገድ ሥራ እያሳበቡ የራሳቸውን ታሪፍ ማውጣትና ማስከፈል ካመጡም ረፈድ ብሏል፡፡

የሥራ መግቢያና የስብሰባዎች መጀመርያ ሰዓት በስምምነት ወደኋላ መሸጋሸግ ይታይባቸው ከያዘ ውሎ አድሯል፡፡

ይህ ሁሉ ከመንገድ ቁፋሮዎች ጋር እየተያያዘ በመንገድ እንደቆሙ ማርፈድ ስለበዛ፣ የአዲስ አበቤውን ሆደ ሰፊነት በግንባታ ያሰለቹት ቻይኖቻችንና መንግሥት ይማጠናሉ፡፡ የከተማው ነዋሪ ለእስካሁኑ ትዕግስቱ ምስጋና ሲቸረው መስማት፣ በየግንባታ ቦታው የተለጠፉ የምስጋና መልዕክቶችን ማንበብ ወግ ሆኖ ይታያል፡፡ ....... To read the whole story, Go to



www.ethiopianreporter.com

That is a deep cut. Are they going to have a bored tunnel on this project? I see a face that looks like a "portal" face where you typically start boring. They have handrails at the top for pedestrians, good start, but it won't do much good for cars. It looks like they are laying down the waterproofing mats at the bottom or is it raling system for the boring machine? This project is starting to get exciting!

Typical African style. No wonder the Chinese dont trust Africans to get work done!

What is typically African about it? Projects often get delayed all over the world.

Some people love complaining though they have no understanding of the complexity of some things.

Chinese contractor expresses concerns for project delay

http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/chinese-contractor-expresses-concerns-for-project-delay.html

Just like France telecome took over the management of ETC, couldn't China's government take over management of the administration in Addis Ababa. I would seriously support that move.

ETC is an enterprise. The AA Administration is part of the government. You want China to take over part of the Ethiopian government?

First, that traitorous, and second, that's a lazy cop-out. If the AA Admin has problems, then solve them, don't ask to be saved by foreigners.

ETC is an enterprise. The AA Administration is part of the government. You want China to take over part of the Ethiopian government?

First, that traitorous, and second, that's a lazy cop-out. If the AA Admin has problems, then solve them, don't ask to be saved by foreigners.
I don't want to turn into politics, but it's not exactly like we can freely choose our leaders in Addis Ababa. So yes, if we could temporarily rent an effective Chinese administration it would be perfect! :)

I'm obviously not serious, just frustrated.

So the government is creating obstacles for its own project? Say it ain't so :|. That's always the problem in Ethiopia. The government is its own worst enemy.

With that said, this is turning out quite exciting. I hadn't seen the renders until now, and they look awesome. If the finished product is 50% of the renders, I'm happy. I can't wait to see it completed.

http://addisfortune.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/addis_metro_transit.jpg

I think this is a good project even if entrepreneurs are foreigners. Essential is that the Ethiopia has infrastructure to support population growth. :)

who said they're all foreigners? the main contractor might be but a majority of the workers on site and all of the subcontractors are all Ethiopians. In fact, Ethiopia is one of the very few countries on the continent that insists on local expertise and technology transfer, unlike most African countries that simply hire large outside firms to do everything for them. Get your facts right!

Looks very exciting! This wasn't there when I visited- they seem to be moving fast. Also, they should clean up City Hall- it's a modernist gem.

Government shooting itself in the foot? Typical.

The City Administration about to build $145 million Dollars rd which relates with The Light Rail construction.


13 January 2013 ተጻፈ በ ዳዊት ታዬ
ከአዲስ አበባ የባቡር መስመር ጋር የሚሠሩት መንገዶች ከ2.6 ቢሊዮን ብር በላይ ወጪ ይፈልጋሉ

- የመንገዶቹ ግንባታ ከጨረታ ውጭ በድርድር ሊሰጥ ነው

ከአዲስ አበባ የቀላል ባቡር ሐዲድ ዝርጋታ ጋር ለሚገነቡት የመተላለፊያ መንገዶች ከ2.6 ቢሊዮን ብር በላይ እንደሚያስፈልግና የግንባታ ሥራውንም በድርድር ለመስጠት መታቀዱ ተጠቆመ፡፡

የባቡር ሐዲድ መስመር ግንባታው ስምምነት ከተፈጸመ በኋላ፣ የባቡር መስመሩንና የተሽከርካሪዎችን ፍሰት ለማቀናጀት ለሚገነቡት አዳዲስ የመተላለፊያ መንገዶች 2.6 ቢሊዮን ብር የአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር ይሸፍናል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡ ሆኖም እስካሁን ለዚህ ፕሮጀክት በጀት ያልተመደበ ሲሆን፣ አስተዳደሩ የመንገዶቹ ግንባታ ባለው አቅም ተጀምሮ ለፕሮጀክቱ የሚሆን ፋይናንስ ማፈላለግ ይጀምራል ተብሏል፡፡

የባቡር መስመሩንና የተሽከርካሪዎችን ፍሰት ያቀናጃሉ ተብለው የታመነባቸው መንገዶችን ለማስገንባት ኃላፊነቱን የወሰደው የአዲስ አበባ መንገዶች ባለሥልጣን ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅ ኢንጅነር ፍቃዱ ኃይሌ ለሪፖርተር እንደገለጹት፣ አስተዳደሩ በጀቱን እንዲሸፍንና በዚሁ መሠረት ወደ ሥራ እንዲገባ ወስኗል፡፡ የፌደራል መንግሥትም ለእነዚህ መተላለፊያ መንገዶች ግንባታ አስተዋጽኦ ያደርጋል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ገጽታን በመለወጥ ጭምር ትልቅ ፋይዳ አላቸው የተባሉትና ከባቡር መስመሩ ጋር በጥምረት የሚሠሩት መንገዶች ዲዛይን እንደሚያሳየው፣ በተለያዩ የማቋረጫ ቦታዎች አደባባይ ጭምር የሚሠራባቸው በመሆኑ ግንባታው አስቸጋሪ ሊሆን እንደሚችልም ተጠቁሟል፡፡

በዚህ መሠረት ግንባታውን በጨረታ ከመስጠት ይልቅ በተሠራው ዲዛይን መሠረት ግንባታውን ለማከናወን አቅም አላቸው ተብለው የሚታመኑ የውጭ ኮንትራክተሮችን በመለየት፣ እንዲጋበዙና በድርድር ግንባታውን ለማሠራት መታቀዱን ኢንጂነር ፍቃደ ገልጸዋል፡፡

የባቡሩንና የተሽከርካሪዎችን ፍሰት እንዲስማማ የሚያደርጉት እነዚህ መንገዶች ከባቡር መስመር ዝርጋታው ጎን ለጎን ግንባታቸው ያለመጀመሩ አሳሳቢ መሆኑ እየተነገረ ቢሆንም፣ ኢንጅነር ፍቃዱ ግን በሚቀጥሉት ወራት ከተጋባዥ ኮንትራክተሮች ጋር በመደራደር የተሻለውን በመምረጥ በሚያዝያ 2005 ዓ.ም. ወደ ሥራ ለመግባት መታቀዱን ተናግረዋል፡፡ ሆኖም በዚህ የመንገድ ፕሮጀክት ከወዲሁ ትልቅ ፈተና የሆነው በተለይ በመገናኛና በሜክሲኮ አደባባይ አካባቢ ያሉትን ትላልቅ የውኃ መስመሮች የማንሳት ሥራ ነው፡፡

እነዚህን መስመሮች የማንሳቱ ሥራ ጊዜ ካልወሰደ በተባለው የጊዜ ገደብ ውስጥ ወደ ሥራ መግባት ይቻላል የሚል እምነት አላቸው፡፡ በመንገዶቹ ግንባታ ሳቢያ የሚነሱ የተለያዩ ግንባታዎች ከወዲሁ እንዲፈርሱ ያደርጋል ተብሏል፡፡

ለባቡር መስመሩ ዝርጋታ መጀመር ወሳኝ ናቸው የተባሉት እነዚህ መንገዶች ከባቡር መስመሩ ግንባታ ጋር እኩል የማይራመዱ ከሆነ፣ የባቡር አገልግሎቱን በታሰበበት ጊዜ ለመጀመር አዳጋች መሆኑን የባቡር መስመሩን እየገነባ ያለው የቻይናው ኩባንያ ሥጋቱን መግለጹ ይታወሳል፡፡

በሁለት አቅጣጫዎች ከሚዘረጋው የባቡር መስመር አንዱ በሆነው ከአያት ጦር ኃይሎች ድረስ ባለው የባቡር መስመር ወደ 21 የሚደርሱ የተሽከርካሪ ማቋረጫ መንገዶች ይገነባሉ፡፡ ኡራኤል፣ በሃያ ሁለትና ሜክሲኮ አደባባይ አካባቢዎች ተጨማሪ አደባባዮች ከሚገነቡባቸው ሥፍራዎች ውስጥ የሚካተቱ ናቸው፡፡ ከአያት ጦር ኃይሎች ድረስ ባለው መንገድ ለ21 ማቋረጫ መንገዶች የባቡሩን ጉዞ ሳያስተጓጉሉ ተሽከርካሪዎችን ያሸጋግራሉ የተባሉትን ዲዛይኖች የሠራው ኮር ኮንሰልቲንግ የተባለ አገር በቀል ድርጅት ነው፡፡ ከሰሜን ማዘጋጃ ወደ ቃሊቲ በሚዘልቀው የባቡር መስመር ተሽከርካሪዎችን የሚያስተናግዱ መንገዶች ዲዛይን የተሠራው ደግሞ በራሱ የኢትዮጵያ የባቡር ኮርፖሬሽን መሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ ይህ መስመር እንደ አያት ጦር ኃይሎች መስመር ብዙ ማቋረጫዎች የማይበዙበት ነው፡፡

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ ከአያት ወደ ጦር ኃይሎች በሚወስደው መንገድ በሚዘረጋው የባቡር መስመር ምክንያት ለተሽከርካሪዎች ለሚሠራው መንገድ እንቅፋት በመሆናቸው ሊፈርሱ ይችላሉ የተባሉት የኢትዮጵያ መድን ድርጅትና የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ መርከብ ሕንፃዎች ከመፍረስ ድነዋል፡፡ ከኮር ኮንሰልቲንግ የተገኘው መረጃ እንደሚጠቁመው፣ ሕንፃዎቹ ሳይነኩ ለመሥራት አዲስ ጥናት ቀርቦ መንገዱ ከሕንፃዎቹ ኋላ እንዲያልፉ ተደርገው ይሠራሉ፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር ፕሮጀክት የባቡር ሐዲድ ዝርጋታው ብቻ ወደ 8.3 ቢሊዮን ብር አካባቢ ወጪ የሚጠይቅ ሲሆን፣ ይህም ወጪ ከቻይናው ኤግዚም ባንክ በብድር የተገኘ መሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ አሁን ደግሞ ከባቡር መስመሩ ጋር ተያይዘው የሚሠሩት መንገዶች የሚጠይቁት 2.6 ቢሊዮን ብር ሲደመር የባቡር መስመር ፕሮጀክቱ አጠቃላይ ወጪ 12 ቢሊዮን ብር ሊደርስ እንደሚችል ተገምቷል፡፡


http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/index.php/news/item/327-%E1%8A%A8%E1%8A%A0%E1%8B%B2%E1%88%B5-%E1%8A%A0%E1%89%A0%E1%89%A3-%E1%8B%A8%E1%89%A3%E1%89%A1%E1%88%AD-%E1%88%98%E1%88%B5%E1%88%98%E1%88%AD-%E1%8C%8B%E1%88%AD-%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%9A%E1%88%A0%E1%88%A9%E1%89%B5-%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8C%88%E1%8B%B6%E1%89%BD-%E1%8A%A826-%E1%89%A2%E1%88%8A%E1%8B%AE%E1%8A%95-%E1%89%A5%E1%88%AD-%E1%89%A0%E1%88%8B%E1%8B%AD-%E1%8B%88%E1%8C%AA-%E1%8B%AD%E1%8D%88%E1%88%8D%E1%8C%8B%E1%88%89

Still can't read that, but the android geez typeface is very attractive. It has a certain rectilinear quality to it tgat makes it look crisp and modern yet somewhat reminicent of ancient Sabean. Very nice.

To be more on topic, could someone summarise the article?

Still can't read that, but the android geez typeface is very attractive. It has a certain rectilinear quality to it tgat makes it look crisp and modern yet somewhat reminicent of ancient Sabean. Very nice.

To be more on topic, could someone summarise the article?

You are alive?!

You are alive?!

No, I'm dead. :lol:

Still can't read that, but the android geez typeface is very attractive. It has a certain rectilinear quality to it tgat makes it look crisp and modern yet somewhat reminicent of ancient Sabean. Very nice.

To be more on topic, could someone summarise the article?

The transilated version (almost :D )



The Reporter - English Edition

CRBC likely to clinch biggest ever road construction contract .

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Authority plans to invite exclusively Chines contractors

By Dawit Taye

Another Chinese-based construction company operational in Ethiopia – China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) – has become an overwhelming favorite to snatch the 2.6 billion birr interchange and roundabout project that is expected to complement the Light Railway Transit (LRT) project in Addis Ababa. Currently, Addis Ababa City Administration and the federal government, joint financiers of the interchange and roundabout project, are selecting potential contractors fit to complete the mammoth construction work within the set deadline. Hence, from a pool of local contractors, CRBC appears to be making more sense as having the capacity to undertake a project of this degree, Fekade Haile (Eng.), general manager of Addis Ababa City Road Authority (AACRA), told The Reporter. Nevertheless, he noted that other companies would also be contacted to express their interest in the project. “We are also looking into Chinese contractors which are not currently working in Ethiopia. I do not think there will be adequate experience and capacity to undertake a project of this caliber among the local contractors,” he explained.

The LRT stretching for a total of 34.35 km has two primary routes, one running from the north to the south of the city while the other connects the east and the west, both covering equivalent distances. According to the plan, the north-south route starts from the St. George Church around Piazza and ends at the Southern limits of the city near Kality. Similarly, the east-west part covers the distance between the Ayat neighborhood to the East all the way to the Armed Forces Specialized Hospital in the West. The design of the LRT project stipulates that there will be 20 overpasses along both routes, of which six will have major roundabouts. According to the GM, these major roundabouts will have some basic underground construction works that must be done carefully. This means that the project will have some three thousand meter wide concrete walls to be constructed at the end of the day. Hence, Fekade says that the project requires seasoned foreign contractors with practical experience in the game.

Thus far, the plan is to invite selected contractors to submit their contract quotation for this projects and as per the explanations of the GM, the pool of the companies has been narrowed down to Chinese origin. Furthermore, AACRA seems to have set its eyes on the CRBC to take over the project. CRBC has quite an impressive resume in Ethiopia. It is known for completing the Addis Ababa ring road project and other major infrastructural projects during the last 10 years it has been operational in the country.

It is also to be remembered that another Chinese company that is undertaking the main LRT project – China Railway Engineering Group Limited (CREC) – has expressed concerns about the sluggish move of the interchange road construction project. The company noted at the time that the two-year completion timetable will not be feasible. According to the tentative timetable, the two, the LRT and interchange, should be completed around the same time. Among the main challenges of the interchange project is relocating the city’s water pipelines, which comes in contact with the project.

So far, the biggest urban road project in the country is the Bole road renovation, which was estimated to cost 1.08 billion birr. However, with its overall estimated cost of 2.6 billion birr, the interchange is expected to be the biggest.



http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/crbc-likely-to-clinch-biggest-ever-road-construction-contract.html

Are there going to be any underground statoins in the tunnel?

Remember the debate over concrete vs ballast tracks? http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=89359003&postcount=47

Here is the corporation's response - we totally missed it. It was published in March 2012 in The Reporter.

ERC Response to the REPORTER Article on “City Rail Standards Spark Off Debate” Published on Saturday 10th March 2012

As many readers of The Reporter will have noted, preliminary works associated with the design and construction of the North South and East West lines of the proposed Addis Ababa LRT (Light Rail Transit) system has begun.

Outline designs are currently being progressed in accordance with the agreed conceptual arrangements for the project, and detailed designs will follow thereafter as part of the planning approval process. The Corporation will shortly engage an International Consultant to manage the design review/approval process and supervise the construction of the works for the planned LRT network to ensure safety and quality is not compromised in either of these activities up to completion, commissioning and initial operation of the system.

For any major infrastructure project, public awareness, consultation and “informed” debate is an essential element to ensure its successful completion. Uninformed debate can be detrimental to this effort, and in some cases cause unnecessary delay, with associated additional cost to the project.

The Corporation therefore provides below a detailed response to the above article.
The basic design and operational concepts of any LRT system are summarised as follows:-

1. Fully segregated in dedicated reserve.
2. Partially segregated in highway (where highway widths do not permit construction of a dedicated reserve).
3. Shared running in highway with vehicular traffic.

For the majority of the first phase of the LRT project, and thanks to the development of a robust Master Plan for the city, a dedicated reserve has been created as part of the highway infrastructure development works. The use of ballasted trackform in these suburban areas of the city is a concept which is common to many LRT systems around the world.


http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/images/resized/images/stories/webpix/811/train_200_200.jpg

The above captions illustrate ballasted track construction in suburban areas and embedded rail construction in city centre areas. This is a concept adopted on numerous LRT systems worldwide to optimise construction costs and help ensure project sustainability. For specific application to the Addis Ababa LRT, these concepts will additionally minimise geological/seismic risk during operation and minimise the use of specialist imported materials and equipment.

Outline designs, based on project conceptual arrangements for the more complex city centre areas, are currently being developed by Contractor for the project. These will be checked to ensure full compliance with international standards and city planning requirements by ERC’s Technical Staff and supervising consultant, prior to commencement of any construction works.

Unlike main line railway networks which require specialist signalling systems to control train speed and safety, LRT systems are comparatively simple, with various forms of “Stop or Go” signals being erected, mainly at the intersection of the tramway with a highway, where priority signalling is given to the tram.

LRT systems operate on a “line of sight” basis, generally up to a maximum speed of 80 kph. Lower speed limits will be applied at highway intersections, pedestrianised parts of the alignment within the city centre and on those parts of the alignment where tight curves are necessary. Technical features of the trams themselves allow the driver to rapidly accelerate or decelerate to suit the traffic speed (for shared running) and road junction to minimise delay to vehicular traffic.

Addis Ababa LRT conceptual arrangements developed in April 2009 show ballasted track construction for the “at grade” suburban sections of the network (left above example of highway adjacent) and direct fixation for the elevated sections (right above, example of station area).

With regard to your article’s inference that railway professionals prefer the use of concrete sleeper track to ballasted tracks, this a confusing statement. Concrete sleepers form part of the ballast track construction. The picture supporting the article labelled “Concrete sleeper tracks” is actually that of embedded rail, the most expensive form of LRT track construction, involving the importation of special “grooved” rail, resilient polymers and primers for embedment fixation, transition rails to link up with ballast track running rails and specialist points and crossings where crossovers are required.

For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify the arrangement of track construction, or trackform options normally deployed on LRT systems, these are summarised as follows:-

1. Ballasted Track (Concrete sleeper, rail and ballast cushion of about 200 mm).
2. Direct Fixation (Base plates and rail fixed directly to a concrete slab).
3. Embedded Rail (Grooved rail set in concrete channel with resilient polymer).
4. Grass Track (Direct fixation or grooved rail with synthetic covering).
5. Highway Intersection (Precast concrete units on ballasted track or embedded rail).

There is no set international standard for selection of a tramway trackform type, each section of the project MUST be assessed on site specific merits and environmental, technical or other specified requirements. “Project wide” and site specific tramway trackform selection, together with supporting civil engineering infrastructure arrangements is dependent on one or a combination of the following criterion:-

• Project capital cost, maintainability and sustainability;
• Location specific rail, road and pedestrian traffic volumes;
• “Project wide” terrain/geological conditions and seismic risk;
• Environmental and social impact including noise and vibration;
• Optimised use of local skills and plant/material availability.

The above captions illustrate direct fixation and embedded rail options which ERC will develop into detailed designs for the city centre areas of the project. Dynamic stiffness of preferred trackform assemblies will be fully aligned with environmental and social impact requirements and any noise and vibration stipulations which may be imposed at sensitive sites on the network. Shrinkage and/or swelling damage from seasonal changes in the abundant presence of black cotton and low cohesion/high plasticity soils represent a major damage risk to these trackforms. Seismic risk will remain in throughout the life of the project. These issues will be fully evaluated and optimum designs developed and approved by ERC PRIOR to commencement of construction.

With regard to the cost comparison presented in your article, it is difficult to “generalise” between ballasted and unballasted trackform costs without having a performance specification in place for the latter.

As the tram (or a train) passes over any ballasted trackform, a “dynamic stiffness” is generated, usually 5 to10 KN/mm depending on train speed, ballast depth, and associated requirements of features of the trackform specification. Attempting to recreate a comparable stiffness in unballsted trackforms, usually by discreet rail baseplate support systems, is both technically challenging and costly.

Again, importation of special “discreet” cast iron direct fixation baseplates, fixing nuts and bolts, resilient baseplate pads, and epoxy fixation materials, together with support jigs and specialist construction tools and equipment will be necessary for this trackform option.

Cheap direct fixation baseplate fastening systems are available, however these can generate dynamic stiffness values well in excess of 40 KN/mm, with detrimental impact risk for long term sustainability of the concrete slab and environmental noise and vibration.

Both direct fixation and embedded rail trackform options require the import of costly specialist equipment and materials including “grooved” rail, transition rails, resilient baseplates/ fixation materials and polymers. The need for specialist temporary support arrangements during final track installation is also envisaged. Similarly, damage repair as a consequence of ground movement will also be costly and disruptive. ERC will undertake full risk assessment procedures and adopt value engineering techniques to ensure the most cost effective and appropriate trackform is installed at city centre areas

However, ERC considers that one of these most important points to consider in the selection of the LRT trackform is the local terrain/geological conditions and seismic risk. Your article’s suggestion that unballasted (or ballastless) tracks have high elasticity is totally incorrect. The concrete slab portion of these trackforms is extremely rigid, and prone to movement and/or cracking damage from seasonal change in characteristics (shrinkage in the dry season, swelling in the wet season) of black cotton soils and low cohesion/high plasticity soils which dominate the planned LRT corridors, unless these poor quality soils are totally removed or a design developed which fully eliminates settlement risk.

Complete removal or development of a design which fully eliminates the impact of black cotton and other poor quality soils throughout all of the planned LRT alignments would generate a capital cost which could totally eliminate the project viability.

Seismic impact damage risk to the network will of course still remain throughout the life of the LRT system, but again the flexibility of ballasted track will be both less susceptible to this form of damage and quicker/cheaper to repair.

The key advantage of ballast track is its flexibility and maintainability. Your article’s suggestion that ballasted tracks require everyday maintenance is again more misinformed nonsense.

After installation and stabilisation of ballasted trackforms using specialist “on track” equipment, which ERC will in any case have at its disposal for maintenance of the planned NRNE (National Railway Network of Ethiopia), deployment of this equipment, probably on an annual basis, is envisaged.

The Addis Ababa LRT network will intersect a number of major and minor highways and trackform options at these locations needs careful evaluation on a site specific basis. For standard “at grade” crossings, the use of precast insulated panels laid directly on top a ballasted trackfom is one option is currently considered the most appropriate trackform to optimise use of local precast concrete technology in Ethiopia. The use of grass track (upper right picture) may be necessary at environmentally or noise sensitive sites.

With regard to the article’s assertion that dust will be problem, any minor amounts of dust arising from the track ballast will soon be dispersed by the rail traffic, as is normal for any new ballasted track installation. This dust can be eliminated by supply of “washed” track ballast (to eliminate “fines” or fine particles) is specified, if required.

The nuisance of atmospheric dust has also been assessed and it is considered this will have minimal impact potential ballast contamination. No contamination of the track ballast is envisaged from the rolling stock which will be powered from an overhead line caternary system. Degradation of the ballast in service is also expected to be minimal due the comparatively light axle loading of the trams (circa 12 tonnes) to that of main line railway systems (circa 25 tonnes).

Finally, one important feature of the trackform design which your article does not address is the drainage system. To ensure LRT operations remain reliable and sustainable throughout the life of the project, close coordination in the detailed design development phase between alignment design, civil engineering, hydrology/drainage and geotechnical specialists within ERC and its contractor/consultant design groups in planned to ensure that site specific drainage design requirements are robustly modelled and developed to ensure that flooding risk to the network during the city’s rainy season is minimised.

ERC trusts the above responses and reasoning eliminate any doubts about the Corporation’s decision regarding the locations where it is planned to use ballasted track.


http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/Opinion/erc-response-to-the-reporter-article-on-city-rail-standards-spark-off-debate-published-on-saturday-10th-march-2012.html


Needless to say, they clearly did their homework. At the end of the article, I could see the author dropping the mic :lol:

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc93i6JWcS1rodg24.gif

:lol:

Great response by ERC, I hope we see more of that from others.

Great response from ERC!!

Are there going to be any underground statoins in the tunnel?

I don't think there will be any underground station on the LRT.Just over pass and under passes.

Wrong. There was a recent article in Amharic that I read (in the last 3 months or so i think) where there was extensive info about the LRT system, including underground stations, escalators, electrionic payment cards and so on....If I find the article, i'll post it here.

http://www.unep.org/transport/pcfv/PDF/icct_2012/LRT_Yehualaeshet_Jemere_ERC.pdf

Check out this presentation given by one of ERC's project managers - it has interesting details....I'm still looking for the other info about the underground stations...

I was just wondering because a 2 km tunnel is pretty long. Most light railways usually have a station or two with tunnels of this length.

I was just wondering because a 2 km tunnel is pretty long. Most light railways usually have a station or two with tunnels of this length.
The tunnel has one underground station. I remember watching a youtube clip where the consulting engineer of the project was talking about an underground station. I will post the clip if I find it ...

^^
They are planing to build one in front of St George church.

it looks like this is part of the north-south line where they've been leaving 15-meter wide spaces for the tracks
(http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_12_No_596_Archive/Core%20to%20Design%20Road%20for%20Light%20Railway%20Train.htm)...

with an average width of a light rail car say around 3 meters, it'll be interesting how they will accommodate:

- both (north/south) tracks,
- space between them &
- (safe) passenger boarding areas at both ends

within that 15 meters or so...

How about like this :) I am sure this is less than 15 meter wide. From Bogota ,Colombia thread.

http://imageshack.us/a/img5/7936/8479315503a1680077b1b.jpg

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1021275&page=35

The Bogota picture is a bus route, also called Bus Rapid Transit. They don't have rail there.

The Bogota picture is a bus route, also called Bus Rapid Transit. They don't have rail there.

My bad ! you right I thought they closed those lanes for construction purpose.But I don't want to edit it because it gives us ideas about BRT and even the stations looks much better than this Algerian Tram station :cheers:

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/305370_10151301570924430_1380555927_n.jpg

Source http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=760848&page=37

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/8520815228_2c7125ab44_o.jpg

Corporation discloses Addis Light Rail project.




Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC) revealed details of the Addis Light Rail Project around Adwa and St. Abune Petros squares, which were centres of confusion recently.

http://danielberhane.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/corporationdisclosesaddisababalightrailprojectdetail.jpg
The detailed design shows the railEthiopian Railway Corporation - Addis Ababa light rail transit project detail route, which starts from Adwa Square, will be an underground tunnel stretching up to two kilometres.

“As a result, the Menelik II statue will remain intact,” Dr. Getachew Betru, Director of ERC, told a joint press conference with other stakeholders Thursday. “The statue will not be affected by the project neither during the construction nor operational phase,” Dr. Getachew stressed.

The construction, however, will not spare the statue of St. Abune Petros, which was erected in 1941 in memory of the archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church who was killed by fascist Italian invaders for his support of the national patriots’ movement against Italian aggressors.

“The statue of Abune Petros will be removed during the construction phase as it is en route the underground tunnel,” Dr. Getachew said. “But this is only temporary and it will be erected once the construction is completed.”

The contractor, China Railway Group Limited (CREC), had fenced the area and digging of a 20 metres deep tunnel for the concrete wall is underway.

Culture and Tourism Bureau head Gebre-Stadik Hagos said a committee, which will oversea the removal and subsequent reinstatement of the statue of St. Abune Petros has been formed . The committee is comprised of the city’s Culture and Tourism Bureau, Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa City Roads Authority and ERC.

“The task of removing and temporarily erecting the statue at the national museum will be delicately carried out,” Yonas Desta, Director of Addis Ababa Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Authority said “The statue will be reinstated at exactly the same place,” Yonas said. ERC commenced the 34.25 kms double track electrified light rail transit project in December 2011 after securing funds from Exim Bank of China.

The two line rail tracks extend 17.35kms from east to west direction stretching from Ayat Village to Tor Hailoch passing through Megenagna, Legehar and Mexico. In the north to south direction, a 16.9-kms rail track will pass through Menelik Square, Merkato, Lideta, Legehar, Maskal Square, Gotera and Kaliti. The two directions will have a common track of about 2.8-kms.

The Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit will have a total of 41 rails each with a capacity to carry 286 passengers. This will enable the light rail transit to provide transportation service to 15,000 people per hour in one direction and 60,000 in all four directions.

The corporation plans to complete 42 per cent of the project this budget year, including 80 per cent of soil and civil works.

****************

Originally published on Ethiopian Herald, on March 10, 2013, titled “Corporation discloses/Addis light rail project detail”.

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http://danielberhane.com/2013/03/11/corporation-discloses-addis-ababa-light-rail-project-detail/

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/8520815228_2c7125ab44_o.jpg

Sticks! :ohno:

In a 2 km tunnel going through the most crowded and dynamic part of the city (Mercato), I assume there will be a few underground stops. Anyone have any ideas? I know someone mentioned there will be one such stop, but that seems too little for a 2km tunnel.

No idea. I bet they'll ruin the statue's plinth, too.

http://addisfortune.net/articles/addis-light-railway-prototype-ready/

Addis Light Railway Prototype Ready

The Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) has recently completed assembling a prototype train for the Addis Abeba Light Railway project (LRT), Fortune has learnt.

MetEC produced the outside body itself, whereas the bogie – the framework carrying the wheels – was imported from the Danubian Aircraft Company, a Hungarian corporation active in the overhaul and upgrade of helicopters and fighters, and the manufacture of metallic components, according to a source close to the issue. The company will also provide expert assistance in the production of tracks for the railway project.

Danubian had previously worked with MetEC to supply Hydraulic equipment, according to a commander inside MetEC who wanted to remain anonymous.

Construction of the light railway project, an electric railway system for the capital, which, when completed, will transport 80,000 passengers an hour, began in January 2012. The project, estimated to cost 475 million dollars, is being overseen by the Ethiopian Railway Corporation.

The project will lay down a total of 34.25Km of railway line, on two separate routes. The North-South route will begin fromMenilik II Squareand end at Kaliti, while the East-West route will connectAyatVillageto Tor Hailoch. Additional lines fromMelnilik II Squareto Shiro Meda, to the North; Kaliti to Gelan, to the South and Tor Hailoch to Lebu, to the South West, will be added to the design at a later stage.

While China Railway Group Limited (CREG) won the contract for the construction of the lines, it was MetEC that was charged with supplying the tracks and the trains to transport passengers. Once complete, the tracks will be of standard size (1.435 metres wide) double track for the whole route.

The locomotive wing of MetEC embarked on the project to assemble a prototype train around nine months ago. During this time, it moved offices from Bishoftu, 45Km from Addis Abeba, to the old Railway station, at La Gare.

Once the prototype is tried and tested, MetEC will move to mass production, according to a source close to the issue. The management of MetEC declined to provide official comments when contacted.

Aside from the Addis Abeba Light Railway project, the ERC is also overseeing construction of the National Railway Project, which will connect the country through a criss-cross of eight railway corridors. The total length of the tracks will be 4,744Km. The track and trains for the National Railway project will be imported from a Chinese company.

amazing

They should release a pic. I'm curious.

^^ Me too. I'm worried it might look as ugly as the buses they assemble (Bishoftu)

Hello all

It's great that the trains are being made by an Ethiopian company, does anyone have any more insight into Metals & Engineering Corporation?

Hello all

It's great that the trains are being made by an Ethiopian company, does anyone have any more insight into Metals & Engineering Corporation?
It is a huge conglomeration of many companies, both civilian and military. It is government owned, but works in partnership with foreign companies. It is involved in the assembly of buses, trains, light planes and helicopters. It does electro mechanical installation for dams, manufactures solar panels, is building fertilizer and sugar plants, and many more. Check out their website:
http://www.metec.gov.et/

The website design makes me cringe

^^ Lol. I know right. Very disappointing

Minilik square area

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/3691/lrtstgeorge.jpg

Ethiopian government said 25 (twenty five) percent of the 37.4 kilometers Addis Ababa Light Rail Project being constructed by the China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) is completed.

The announcement was made at the opening of the Ethiopian Railway Standard Development Workshop held at Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, April 2. The workshop featured about 17 engineering consulting firms from countries such as Russia, Brazil, India and India, and featured as its guest speaker state minister of Transport Getachew Mengiste.

The railway stretches mainly from Defence Forces Hospital to Ayat Village, which is 17.26Km, with other tracks that will lead from Meskel Square to Kality (16.246Km) and the 3.875Km rail line from Lideta to Menilik Square.

Formal work had started on the project on February 1, 2012, although the project was signed in 2009 suffering several delays in the commencement of the work process, with its work period being two years.

Speaking at the occasion (Eng.), (Dr.) Getachew Betru Director General of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) said the 667 kilometers Ethio-Djibouti railway being undertaken separately by two Chinese firms has already had 13 percent of its portion completed.

The firms currently undertaking this project are for the Addis Ababa-Meiso Railway section being CREC with a total construction period of 42 months with a grace period of plus six months, with commencement date being February 12, 2012 and time of completion February 11, 2016.

The second section going from Mieso- Dawnale on the border with Djibouti is being currently undertaken by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), with a construction period of 42 months plus 10 months grace period. The deal for the project was signed on December 16th, 2012.

http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=917:ethiopia-completes-25-percent-addis-railway-project&catid=38:government&Itemid=38

so exited about this project very big step for the nation

light rail progressing
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p480x480/529115_10151559227934587_2026177937_n.jpg

so it is actually going to be elevated in some places, I didnt think it would happen for real

nice work,this project moves addis one step ahead

^^ Agreed ! and hopefully cut the ridiculous transport shortage in the city specially during rush hour time.

Oh by the way nice picture FKebede and nice to see you back :cheers:

CRBC and Tidhar clinch the 2.5 Billion Birr road project





The Reporter - English Edition

06 April 2013 Written by Dawit Taye

The Chinese-based construction company that is operational in Ethiopia – China Road and Bridge Corporation Addis Engineering (CRBC)

– and the Israeli construction company – Tidhar Construction Ltd – have snatched the 8.6km long 2.5 billion birr interchange and roundabout project that is expected to complement the Light Railway Transit (LRT) project in Addis Ababa.

The Addis Ababa City Administration and the federal government, joint financiers of the interchange and roundabout projects, selected the contractors who will be enabled with the task of completing the mammoth construction work within the set deadline.

Hence, from a pool of local contractors, China International Water and Electric Corporation, Sino Hydro Construction CGGC Company Limited, CRBC and Tidhar have been selected. Out of the total five project sites Tidhar will work on the two sites or lots while CRBC will work on three lots. The five lots are made up of the Ministry of Mines-Megenagna Interchange-Lem Hotel lot, the Lem Hotel-Hayahulet Interchange-Ministry of Water and Energy lot, the Ministry of Water and Energy-Urael Interchange-Meskel Square lot, the Meskel Square-La Gare-Mexico Interchange-Phillips Building lot and the Phillips Building-Lideta Interchange-Coca Cola Junction lot.

The two construction companies have been engaged in numerous construction projects in Addis Ababa and other regional towns.

The construction is expected to go hand in hand with the Addis Ababa LRT project. The LRT stretching on a total of 34.35 kms has two primary routes, one running from the north to the south of the city while the other connects the east and the west, both covering equivalent distances. According to the plan, the north-south route starts from the St. George Church around Piazza and ends at the Southern limits of the city near Kality.

Similarly, the east-west part covers the distance between the Ayat neighborhood in the East all the way to the Armed Forces Specialized Hospital in the West. The design of the LRT project stipulates that there will be 20 overpasses along both routes, of which six will have major roundabouts. Previously, Fekade Haile (Eng.) general manager of the Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA) told The Reporter that these major roundabouts would have some basic underground construction works that must be done carefully. This means that the project will have some three thousand meter wide concrete walls to be constructed at the end of the day. Hence, Fekade said that the project requires seasoned foreign contractors with practical experience in the game.

It is also to be remembered that another Chinese company that is undertaking the main LRT project – China Railway Engineering Group Limited (CREC) – has expressed concerns about the sluggish move of the interchange road construction project. The company noted at the time that the two-year completion timetable would not be feasible. According to the tentative timetable, the two, the LRT and interchange, should be completed around the same time. Among the main challenges of the interchange project is relocating the city’s water pipelines, which come in contact with the project.

So far the biggest urban road project in the country is the Bole road renovation, which was estimated to cost 1.08 billion birr. However, with its overall estimated cost of 2.6 billion birr, the interchange is expected to be the biggest.




http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/news-headlines/item/319-crbc-tidhar-clinch-25-bln-road-project

I think this is meant to be a support for the roof of a station...Seems to weak to for an elevated track.

light rail progressing
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p480x480/529115_10151559227934587_2026177937_n.jpg

I think this is meant to be a support for the roof of a station...Seems to weak to for an elevated track.

That would have to be one heck of a station if it needs this type of support. If you notice, there are at least 4 consecutive support columns just in that pic.

Here is an elevated light rail track in Seattle:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3381680218_45a9703d4d.jpg

I think this is meant to be a support for the roof of a station...Seems to weak to for an elevated track.

To me that dosen't look like a lot of room either side of the supports for tracks.

We can only see four columns so I can't see this being used to support an elevated track.

Those definitely are supports for the raised section of the rail. You can see how the columns get shorter towards the back. I don't think they will build raised stations, those will require huge structures and will be very expensive. The Seattle light rail has two of them, and they're massive structures.

I was actually listening to an interview on sheger fm online today with two light rail project managers, and they were claiming travel time off peak hours between Ayat and Akaki (including changing trains at Meskel square) to be about 15 minutes. I found that very hard to believe ... But it sounds like an amazing project ... revolutionary as far as public transport in Addis is concerned.

We can only see four columns so I can't see this being used to support an elevated track.

It's for elevated track. i believe the location is the corridor from Mexico square to stadium. They were having right of way problem. I remember them talking about demolishing big buildings. By raising the track and overhanging over the roadway that problem is solved. It appears to me they are going to use a concrete box superstructure tying to the columns. We do it here in the states all the time. Cool stuff!!

We can only see four columns so I can't see this being used to support an elevated track.

I'd imagine more are coming?

I just read that it is indeed elevated rail tracks on some Eth websites ..would post it tomorrow.

here is the thing, the median or center of the road was reserved for the planned rail project and the pillars is now being constructed within the center of the road and if u really think that it is for a station, where the hell you think the rail track is going to be constructed keep in mind that the reserved space is only 7m width. Besides, the pillar is not only four in numbers as they were drilling the hole for pier foundation from gotera up to meskel square. So , in my view , the above picture is for sure for elevated track. By the way the above picture is gotera road not mexico road.

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/3227/dsc9815s.jpg


Near saris

I believe these are being built to elevate the track at certain intervals for cars to cross from one side to the other.

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag106/addis901/604_zps8e00a40e.jpg (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/addis901/media/604_zps8e00a40e.jpg.html)

source http://www.trust.org/item/20130423142157-cofa6/

They move the Abune Petros statue to Natonal Museum untill the underground construction of the light rail completed.


Danielberhane's Blog



በባቡር ግንባታ የተነሳ የአቡነ ጴጥሮስ ሀውልት ወደ ብሄራዊ ሙዚየም ተዛወረ

Posted by Daniel Berhane on Thursday, May 2, 2013 @ 4:42 pm · 2 Comments

በአዲስ አበባ የቀላል ባቡር ግንባታ የተነሳ የአቡነ ጴጥሮስ ሀውልት በግዜያዊነት ወደሚቆይበት ብሄራዊ ሙዚየም ዛሬ ሚያዚያ 25/2005 ተዛውሯል፡፡

ሃዉልቱ በነበረበት ቦታ የመሬት ዉስጥ የባቡር መስመር ይዘረጋል፡፡

http://danielberhane.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/abune-petros-statute-piaza-addis-ababa-ethiopia.jpg?w=274&h=300

Abune Petros statute - Piaza, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

የአዲስ አበባ የቀላል ባቡር ግንባታ ስራ አስኪያጅ ኢንጅነር በሃይሉ ስንታየሁ እንዳሉት ሀዉልቱ አስካሁን በነበረበት መሬት ዉስጥ እስከ 20 ሜትር ጥልቀት በመቆፈር ስራዉ ይከናወናል፡፡

የዉስጥ ለዉስጥ ስራው እስከ መጭው ክረምት አጋማሽ ድረስ ተጠናቆ አፈር ይመለስበታል ብለዋል፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ መንገዶች ባለስልጣን በበኩሉ ስራው በተባለው ግዜ ሲጠናቀቅ የአደባባዩንና የመንገዱን ስራ በአዲስ መልክ በመገንባት ሃዉልቱ ወደ ነበረበት ቦታ በቀጣዩ አመት እንዲመለስ ይደረጋል ብሏል፡፡

ሀውልቱ በግዜያዊነት ሲነሳም ሆነ ወደፊት ወደቀድሞ ቦታው ሲመለስ ዉበቱን ከመጨመርና እስካሁን የተጎዱ የሀውልቱን ክፍሎች ከመጠገን ውጭ ምንም አይነት የቅርፅም ሆነ የይዘት ለዉጥ አይደረግበትም::

ሪፖርተር፤ በዛብህ ታደለ
*************

Source: ERTA – May 2, 2013. Originally titled “የአቡነ ጴጥሮስ ሀውልት ወደ ብሄራዊ ሙዚየም ተዛወረ”


http://danielberhane.com/2013/05/02/ethiopia-abune-petros-monument-relocated-national-museum/

http://addisfortune.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/light_train_under_ground.jpg

Are they considering possible seismic activity in that city when building this tunnels? I am a little bit worried about the quality of construction since they are funding this project.

You can only hope that they've somehow accounted for seismic forces when designing those tunnels. I'm not too optimistic though. Most buildings in Addis will collapse in the event of a medium strength earthquake ... the current design and building practice there is very poor to say the least

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/8100/bk9nftcuaa7lsh.jpg

METEC engineers working on the AA LRT car

Credits_ Tigrai Online for this pic.

If only a private company assemble this. I don't know why the military is involved in this kind of business.

Suppose only they have the skills. Looks nice, in any case.

Why would they build a model with stairs? Smh.

The Military does a lot of bodywork and design. Metec is a group of companies that can contribute to different aspects of the construction. I don't think we have a local private corporate group that can do that, AMCE that does some body work of trucks is if I am not wrong a Joint Venture, and Mesfin Engineering is owned by a trust, EFFORT. What is important is the skill set develops in the country. The engineers, machinists and technicians will go to work in the private sector once the opportunity exists.

Re the stairs; reminds me of the LRT of Frankfurt.

Why would they build a model with stairs? Smh.
Good observation! Just goes to show you how insensitive we are to the disabled. How is a wheelchair bound person supposed to get on these trains?? Other than that, I think it's excellent they're trying to build it in Ethio, instead of importing it from somewhere ...

Why would they build a model with stairs? Smh.

they could raise the platforms & add ramps ... one concern might be people slipping into the gap between a flush platform & the light rail.

Old trains in Stockholm used to have stairs, when they imported the new ones, they made sure to customized all the platforms around the city (and the gap between the train and platform is extremely small).

Here we have a completely new network, there's no reason at all to not make it right from the beginning. Incompetence like this irritates me a lot.

While I'm at it, the tunnel above is a death trap if a fire starts on the train. People should be able to exist the train and run out, but it doesn't seem to be enough space for that.

Why would they build a model with stairs? Smh.

The door looks too narrow either way. I think the other entrances are flat or at least have a ramp that slides out to close any gaps.

Hi, new member here. I'm not an engineer, but I doubt that they are building it with stairs. To me, it looks like the stairs are used to maybe inspect the wiring and other details, but not to construct the whole model. Also, it doesn't look too much different from the light rail cars we have in Norfolk, Virginia USA.

I applaud Ethiopia for its development. It's really amazing to see, but.... it looks like there's not too much optimism in this thread. :D

Welcome! As for the stairs, if you look at the train body you'll see the stairs are part of it so I'm sure they are, in fact, part of the train.

METEC have updated their website, looks a lot better now...


http://http://www.metec.gov.et/index.php/en/

I don't think that it's a bad thing that a state owned company is doing this, there's likely no private Ethiopian companies able to build trains profitably at the moment or in the near future. Most developed countries relied heavily on state owned companies when at early stages of development.

Welcome levarforever, Happy to have you here ..... and YES there is lots of optimism on this tread ... at least i am very excited :)

Good observation! Just goes to show you how insensitive we are to the disabled. How is a wheelchair bound person supposed to get on these trains?? Other than that, I think it's excellent they're trying to build it in Ethio, instead of importing it from somewhere ...
Ok, maybe I was being too rush judging these trains. I was looking at the Seattle light rail trains today, and they have two different levels per car. But their stairs are inside the trains, like at half point. So the disabled people will stay on the lower half of the train, while the able bodied people can climb stairs to the higher half. So maybe the Ethiopian trains are like that? ... although from the pics, it's really hard to tell.

Ok, maybe I was being too rush judging these trains. I was looking at the Seattle light rail trains today, and they have two different levels per car. But their stairs are inside the trains, like at half point. So the disabled people will stay on the lower half of the train, while the able bodied people can climb stairs to the higher half. So maybe the Ethiopian trains are like that? ... although from the pics, it's really hard to tell.


An ethical awareness concerning the disabled does not exist in Ethiopia ,, If you see the streets of Addis or any other Ethiopian town,, you would learn that they are even hard for an able bodied person to use them let alone for a disabled person on a wheelchair, pedestrian walk ways are almost non existent, even if they do, they are in such a bad condition it is common to see pedestrians using the same road as cars. So you can imagine how difficult they would be for a wheel chair bound person even to leave their house. Regarding the stairs on the trains ,, I bet if you go to any official in Ethiopia with a proposal that would make the life of wheelchair users easy they would just lough on your face.

http://traineeafrika2013.tumblr.com/


I came across this blog, It belongs to "Sweroad" which are the company responsible for supervising the LRT project. The blog seem to be dedicated mainly for their work in Ethiopia. They also share their thoughts about the country and their dissatisfaction with their chinese colleagues, which I find very interesting. Their posts also raises important questions the various administrations in the city should reflect upon. It's written in swedish but can be translated through google.

Sweroad were from the beginning contracted to supervise both the LRT and the Sebeta-Mei’so-Dewale railway project but were later terminated from the contract after the chinese apparently didn't like their interference in their work.

here is an article I found from capitalEthiopia about the termination of Sweroad from the contract.



ERC replaces Swedish Railway Consultant


The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) terminated the consultancy contract it had with SweRoad (Swedish National Road Consulting), a Swedish Transport Administration subsidiary, on the Sebeta-Mei’so-Dewale railway project.
According to our sources at the consultancy firm, the firm that signed the contract with the state corporation, in regards to the railway project early last year, has officially stopped operations a few weeks back.
However, our sources say, the main reason for the termination of the contract with ERC is due to the disagreement between the Swedish consultancy firm and the Chinese contractor that is engaged on the construction of the project. This alleged fact was however denied by officials of the state corporation. Feriotch!!
Debo Tunka, deputy CEO of the Infrastructure Division of ERC, informed Capital that the consultancy contract was terminated by the corporation based on its agreement with the financier, the Chinese Import-Export (EXIM) Bank. According to our sources at the corporation, the new consultancy firm that will replace the Swedish firm has already arrived from China a few weeks ago. The deputy CEO also confirmed that the China International Civil Engineering Consulting is already on the ground and has started evaluating the site to commence consulting operations.
According to Debo, SweRoad had been selected by an international bid to consult on the 317km Sebeta-Mei’so-Dewale railway project, but this was before the corporation secured the necessary finance from the Chinese EXIM Bank. “The Swedish company was replaced due to the deal with the financier, that stipulated that the consultant had to be nominated by the bank,” he explained.
“We did not have any problem with the Swedish company and still do not; it is only because of one of the conditions in the deal with the financier, China EXIM bank, that we terminated our contract with them,” he reiterated.
Sources at the corporation stated that ERC officials wanted the Swedish company to continue with its consulting duties; however, all their attempts to convince the bank were in vain.
The two companies who allegedly disagreed on several issues on this project, SweRoad and the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), are also working together on the 34km Addis Ababa city light railway project (LRT), which is financed by the Chinese government.
The Chinese EXIM finances 85 percent of the Sebeta-Mei’so railway project and the remaining balance is covered by the government of Ethiopia largely from the finance it collects through from the telecom monopoly, Ethio Telecom. The total cost of the project is USD 1.1 billion.
The other Chinese contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), has won the bid for the second phase of the project at the cost of USD 1.2 billion. This portion will stretch from Mei’so to the Djibouti border town of Dewale, and is 340 km long. Our sources also indicated that the Chinese consultant firm that is in the process of taking over the Sebeta-Mei’so project, will also control the Mei’so-Dewale undertaking. This represents the second leg of the new railway project that is going to connect Ethiopia with Djibouti, although it hasn’t been officially confirmed by the authorities of the corporation. The construction of the 656 km of railway line between Addis Ababa and the border of Djibouti is expected to be completed before other national railway projects underway.
On the initial deal with ERC, SweRoad had agreed to consult on both the Addis Ababa LRT and the 656 km Sebeta-Dewale project at the cost of USD 18 million.
Currently, two other railway projects have been awarded to a Turkish and an Indian company, respectively, in the past fiscal year. The Turkish company, Yapi merkezi, is constructing the railway from Awash-Woldiya/Hara gebeya at the cost of USD 1.7 billion. Similarly, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is contracted to construct and complete the 268.2 km Mekele-Woldiya railway project which will cost USD 1.6 billion.

http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2291:erc-replaces-swedish-railway-consultant&catid=54:news&Itemid=27



Some random contruction pictures
http://media.tumblr.com/49937590a22246ead9a9490e655a7e75/tumblr_inline_mln4x3l77F1qz4rgp.jpg

http://media.tumblr.com/8993ab6cb014696bb6d7954743fe5759/tumblr_inline_mkgigjnr9j1qz4rgp.jpg

http://media.tumblr.com/c9cc1c502c56c0df9dd37a57db85860c/tumblr_inline_mgkx4bbgvW1rdw7xm.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/1fadc09029d3559f4d4cca5609f2a66a/tumblr_mh0lk0r6XU1s2feqlo3_1280.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/e63791eb7cd70ecc09bad04f4ee7b833/tumblr_mh0lk0r6XU1s2feqlo1_1280.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ab40012becf34f1fad919d0029a79f6e/tumblr_mikp15nLqp1s2feqlo7_1280.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/e4836a6d0c0112c489a77ca1a774f15a/tumblr_mikp15nLqp1s2feqlo6_1280.jpg

Nice update Tarrex !thanx :cheers: and good to see you back

Quality of construction is a big concern, specially when Chines are funding it. I am sure the Swedes had good reason to complain.

Bullying.... mot chayna!

http://traineeafrika2013.tumblr.com/
I read every post, thanks for posting.

The Swedes raised important issues the government has to handle when it comes to infrastructure, landscaping, transportation, safety, etc. It seems to be extremely hard to communicate with the Chinese, almost nobody at the sites knew a word of English which makes me doubt their ability to transfer knowledge to the locals working with them. They also seem to do things their way and their way only which probably caused this dispute.

Quality of construction is a big concern, specially when Chines are funding it. I am sure the Swedes had good reason to complain.
i hope in the near future we will be able to handle all the jobs:banana:

cHxYBvxWvJc

That was painful to listen to.

Why so? Because his English is not upto your standard or liking?