All travel away from the few main roads is problematic in Ethiopia. There are deep gorges in the highlands areas that are impassible due to high flows during the rainy season from July to September. Unless there are reliable crossings, families cannot travel between communities to go to markets, schools or obtain health care.

The main road running north from Addis Ababa to the Eritrean border passes through a small town named Woldija. Near the town, a road branches off to the west towards the historic town of Lalibela. This road crosses the Africore River (see picture below).

A number of years ago, a large foot bridge over the river was washed out during the rainy season. This is a very important bridge and Partners plan to rebuild it in 2007. Katherine Johnston visited the bridge site with Tesfaye (Ethiopian Engineer) last year. The siting of the new bridge will be very important because of the erosion problems in the area.

This project fits into EBA’s 2007 Ethiopia Project in terms of a site visit. Lillian Zaremba was chosen for the first trip in 2007 in part for her hydrology skills related to the siting of this bridge structure. The objective will be to locate the crossing at a sufficient elevation above peak water levels and to provide appropriate scour protection.