Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A heavy-duty truck carrying a dozer has fallen 40 meters into Gibe River, taking down with it the entire bridge in a manner experts believe is the first in bridge history. One of the four people inside the truck had been pronounced dead at the scene.
Truck Bridg Sinks in Gibe River
Photo: Addis Fortune
Located 188Km south west of the capital, the bridge had totally collapsed in the afternoon of January 26, 2007, when the truck, owned by FT Machinery Rental Plc, was passing on its way to Masha Wereda, Illu Aba bora Zone, Oromia Regional State. The top part of the dozer collided with the upper stretch of the bridge’s pillar that was intended to hold it stable, an eyewitness told Fortune.
An average of 300 trucks and trailers carrying coffee and products of Bedele Brewery pass everyday through Gibe Bridge, showing that it is an economic lifeline between central and south western Ethiopia, and the town of Jimma that has a population of 170,000. It was built in 1955, replacing an Arche-bridge built by the Italian occupation forces.
It has undergone several repair works since then and survived artillery attacks by the Derg army who had tried to stop the advancing forces of the rebels in the early 1990s. It, however, suffered a serious damage three years ago after a truck carrying an 82tn transformer drove on it during the construction of Gilgel Gibe I hydroelectric power project. It had remained closed for three months in an effort to rehabilitate the bridge from the damages.
The latest incident had damaged the bridge with no possibility of repair, according to a bridge expert. The truck that sank into the river has no chance to be recovered: it was brought into the country two months ago from Sweden, at a cost of 1.8 million Br, according to Faris Mohammed, major shareholder and general manager of the rental agency. It is, however, covered with an insurance policy from Awash Insurance.
The dozer put on the truck was rented by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) from an individual in order to deploy it on a road project in Illu Ababora Zone, being carried out by its Jimma District. Ironically, the owner of the dozer is a brother of the assistant to the dozer operator, Germame Mekonnen, who witnesses said was killed during the accident. The truck driver, Berhe Tsegaye, is under investigation by police in Wolkite town.
ERA will claim compensation from the truck owner once a thorough investigation has been conducted on the accident, according to Samson Wondimu, public relations head of the Authority. A team of experts are expected to meet at ERA tomorrow, February 4, sources disclosed.
There exists an alternative bridge made of concrete during the military regime with a maximum capacity of 30tn. Although public transport buses are allowed to pass through this bridge, many passengers were seen preferring to cross the bridge walking, for fear of another collapse, say eyewitnesses.
Heavy duty trucks and trailers are forces to use another route, though. Driving through Nekemt-Bedelle adds an additional 300Km to the 346Km road from Addis Abeba to Jimma town. Prices too have shown an increase following the collapse of the bridge: freight cost of a quintal of coffee jumped almost 100pc last week from the 25 Br it was prior to the accident, according to Abagidi Lulessa, coffee supplier to the central auction market, told Fortune. A quintal of teff supplied from Wolkitie, Woliso and Addis Abeba has jumped by 120 Br, following the breakdown of the bridge.
ERA has contracted the state owned Awash Construction to build a new bridge at an outlay of 28 million Br, and projected to be completed in two years. Provided that the company will complete the job by the deadline, the new bridge will not be open for traffic before June 2008.
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