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Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

  • SDGs09
  • SDGs17
  • SDGs8

“Development and Operation Model of Plant-derived Soil Additives for Road Disaster Reduction on Problematic Soil” Constructing passable, maintainable, and affordable roads in rural Ethiopia

Principal Investigator (Affiliation) 日本 Prof.
KIMURA Makoto（Graduate School of Engineering,　Kyoto University） researchmap		 ethiopia Associate Prof.
Mesay Daniel Tulu（College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University）
Research Institutions in Japan Kyoto University / University of Miyazaki / Nagoya Institute of Technology / Ehime University
Research Institutions in Ethiopia Addis Ababa Science and Technology University(AASTU) / Jinka University(JKU) / Ethiopian Roads Authority(ERA)
Adoption fiscal year FY 2018
Research Period 5 Years
ODA Recipient Country Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
General Description of the Research Project

Developing methods for constructing roads on expansive soil by using soil additives derived from local plants
Many parts of Ethiopia remain hardly accessible due to a lack of well-maintained rural roads. Expansive soil, a typical problematic soil spread across Africa, makes it difficult to construct and maintain rural roads. This project will identify physical mechanisms of the expansive soil and develop soil additives made from local plants to improve the stability of unpaved roads. The goal is to find simple and convenient methods to construct roads without relying on expensive machinery and to develop an operational model in collaboration with local governments and communities.

Improving year-round accessibility in rural areas of sub-Saharan region
The project seeks to identify local plants that can be used for soil additives and apply them to the expansive soil in constructing rural roads. In the future, this road maintenance method can solve problems of the expansive soil found all over Africa. By incorporating different local conditions and improving the method as a comprehensive operational model, this project can increase accessibility to all-weather roads in sub-Saharan Africa.
Photo gallery
pic1 Roads with deep ditches damaged during rainy seasons in South Omo

Roads with deep ditches damaged during rainy seasons in South Omo

pic3 Group photo at the kick-off meeting in Addis Ababa

Group photo at the kick-off meeting in Addis Ababa

pic4 Testing soil additives on the expansive soil with local students

Testing soil additives on the expansive soil with local students
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