Environmental Impacts of Coarse Aggregate Production in and Around Addis Ababa

Mulatu, Semere (2013) Environmental Impacts of Coarse Aggregate Production in and Around Addis Ababa. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

Population is increasing in this world and it is also true phenomenon in our country. The number of population migrating from rural areas to cities and the high level of birth rate in Ethiopia has substantial contribution for such rapid increase in population. Addis Ababa, being the capital of this country, is one of the cities where rapid growth of population is more significant. Due to this fact, together with the private sector the government is investing huge money for the construction of housing infrastructure in all regions. The construction of such big infrastructure requires plenty of construction materials production. Aggregates are among the first construction materials that constitute major portion of civil engineering construction works. Besides, because of their size and profound societal importance, construction activities and processes are among the largest consumers of materials and energy and significant polluters on the global scale. For these reasons, more attention should be devoted to understanding, researching, and ultimately reducing their environmental impacts. Hence, this research work attempt to addresses the environmental impact of aggregate production and identifies the level of aggregate produced in environmentally friendly way in Addis Ababa. The objective of the research was to make assessment of the current situation of active and abandoned aggregate materials production quarries and the condition of the environmental effect in and around Addis Ababa, and to formulate and give recommendations with respect to the environmental mitigation plan. Therefore, survey of selected active and abandoned quarry sites in and around Addis Ababa has been done. The survey includes observation, on site data collection and conducting interviews. Besides, relevant data were collected from governmental institutions and large construction materials suppliers and producers in and around Addis Ababa were performed. The result indicates that, in and around Addis Ababa, huge area of land has been sacrificed for the production of aggregate (about 2% of the total area of the city). This area should not be considered as minimum as it is even wider than some of the sub cities. On the other hand, the environmental concern provided for this huge land is so small. For instance, only 40 % of the sampled quarry sites have taken some environmental mitigation measures for the protection of surface and ground water pollution. Another conclusion drawn from the research was concrete aggregate production has relatively good profit (27% the total expenditure). However, the environmental focus given by the producers is very small. Although it is not an easy task to evaluate the monetary value of environmental protection activities performed on quarry sites it can be considered as very negligible. Finally, measurements should be always taken to investigate the impact that the operation in the quarry plant has on the surrounding environment and inhabitants. All concerned parties should work hand in hand for the proper utilization of the scarce resource we had.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	coarse aggregate, concrete, environmental impact, mitigation measure, mound, surface and ground water.
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences Q Science > QE Geology T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering T Technology > TN Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Andriamparany Edilbert RANOARIVONY
Date Deposited:	26 Nov 2018 12:38
Last Modified:	26 Nov 2018 12:38
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/7687

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