Sheladia Associates, Inc. has been selected to provide consulting services for the construction supervision of Bilalo-Kersa-Arsi Negelle Road Project (93 km) in Ethiopia. This $52,000,000 civil works contract, is financed through the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). The project’s main objective is to support the development of Ethiopia through improved rural access and mobility. Sheladia commenced work in August 2019 and the project is expected to be substantially completed in 2022 with a maintenance period through 2023.
The Bilalo-Kersa-Arsi Negelle Road project is located in the Southern part of Ethiopia, Oromia Regional State. The road starts at Bilalo town and ends at Arsi Negelle town. The existing road is a gravel surfaced road, which will be upgraded to asphalt concrete (AC) surfacing with DC-5 standard. The project area is covered with vegetation – forests, shrubs and crops. Farmers plant common cash crops, vegetables, and fruits. However, due to the poor quality of the road, their access to the market has been reduced. This project will make a significant economic impact by improving overall road accessibility, and increasing economic productivity and development. Sheladia is also taking a pro-active approach to ensure women and girls participate in the benefits of the project through, for example, direct or indirect employment, consultation during construction, livelihood restoration and community network development.
Over the past 19 years, Sheladia has worked in Ethiopia continuously on major transportation and road sector projects. With our extensive experience and in-depth understanding and with the support of our office in Addis Ababa, our team of experts is applying the best and most appropriate practices that will ensure a high-level of work quality for successful project completion. The Sheladia team will provide cost-effective engineering deliberately linked to important social and economic objectives and is proud to continue delivering our professional services in Ethiopia.