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Most areas in Ethiopia are located in tropical savanna climate. There is very little rainfall in dry season for more than half a year. Abundant water exists underground so utilization rate is very low. In dry season, the villagers have difficulties in getting water. They have to travel for several kilometers away to take water from small ponds formed after rainy season. With pollution and sharing by humans and animals, the water quality is not satisfactory. Taking consideration of the water intake demand of the villagers during construction, the project office helped them to drill wells and taught well-drilling techniques.
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Aid in construction to resolve drinking water problem
The DK27 grand bridge is located in Welfare Village of Sebel, Oromia. When digging in a depth of more than 10m, we could find groundwater. Groundwater is not good for our construction and will bring difficulty and hazards to construction. However, it is a good news for local villagers. During construction period, villagers in Welfare Village around DK27 grand bridge came for water. But when digging piles were filled with concrete, surrounding villagers lost their water intake points. We have been considering doing something for the local villagers and digging a well for them so that nearly 200 villagers around the village can drink clean water in the rainy or dry season. We used artificial digging piles to drill wells. Concrete wells were used around interior wells. When digging into 12 meters depth, clean groundwater was exuded from the well. To ensure that the villagers also took water when the groundwater level was low in dry season, we continued to dig into 15 meters depth. When villagers took clean groundwater from the well, we felt proud and happy. During the whole construction period, we not only provided water for villagers along the line by drilling wells, but also used sprinklers to deliver water to villagers. All the camps of the Chinese personnel laid water pipes outside the camps to provide free water intake points for local people.
