Ethiopia has signed a deal with a Chinese
firm, China
Communication Construction Company (CCCC) to design and build the country’s longest
bridge.
The Chinese firm secured the project by placing an
offer, which was 15.3% higher than the engineers’ estimate. Three of the
companies were disqualified at the technical stage, leaving CCCC as the sole
bidder whose financial offer was opened on February, 2019.
The bridge will be constructed across the Abay
River at a cost US $49m. It will have a 21.5m width and the capacity to
accommodate a three-lane carriageway, a bicycle path and a walkway. The
government of Ethiopia will be covering the entire cost of the project.
Construction works on the project is estimated to
take three years upon which will replace the 60-year-old existing bridge,
‘Bahir Dar Abay’ that has deteriorated and aged. The Ethiopian Roads Authority had, two years ago, hired CCCC to maintain the old
bridge.
The Bahir Dar Abay bridge will be the longest
bridge in Ethiopia once completed, taking over that claim from the 319m Bashilo
River Bridge that opened for traffic in October 2006. The 305m bridge over the
Baro River in Gambella Regional State and the 303m Abay Bridge were the second
and the third longest bridges in the country.
Being one of the nation’s largest capital
expenditures, road maintenance and construction cost the country US $1.1bn in
the last fiscal year.
CCCC, a company that is behind many mega projects
in the country, including the construction of Kombolcha Industrial Park, the
nation’s first, Addis-Adama Expressway, Africa Avenue (Bole Road),
Measo-to-Djibouti railway and the expansion of the Addis Abeba Bole
International Airport, secured the project after vying against three other
Chinese firms.
The company currently has four ongoing road projects with ERA including Hawassa Airport-Bishan Guracha (Tikur Weha); Jijiga-Gelesh; Cherereti-Hagermekor; and Arsi Negele-Hawassa.https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/04/ethiopia-signs-deals-for-its-longest-bridge-project/
