The Abala Shaigube asphalt concrete road project, (63 km) expected to make the potash deposits in the Afar region of Ethiopia accessible, is 37% complete according Shabbir Hussain, Head of the Contract Administration Division at Sur Construction.

The project started in 2010 is expected to be completed in the beginning of the next year at a cost of 707 million birr.

The road is being constructed by Sur Construction Share Company with consulting work being done by Net Consulting Engineers Private Limited Company.

The road will be 7 meters wide with 1.5 meter shoulders on wither side resulting in a total width of 10 meters said Shabbir.

The project will be completed on schedule in spite of the time required to design seven bridges that make part of the road project he said.

A slight delay was encountered due to the collapse of existing bridges during the rainy season requiring the design of the new bridges explained Shabbir.

The current road is expected to extend into subsidiary projects, including the Berhale-Dalol road and the Agula-Shaigube-Berhale road each expected to be 70 kilometers.

The Berhale-Dalol road will connect directly with the Dalol depression area which is being explored for potash and other minerals by various international mining firms.

Sur Construction is currently building the Chifra-Aloha road project, (79.5 km) supervised by Indian consultants, Lea International. The road will be finalized and open to traffic by April of 2012 at a total cost of 500 million birr.

Source: Capital