A History of Highway Construction In Gojjam To 1991

Gebeyehu, Kerebih

dc.contributor.author	Gebeyehu, Kerebih
dc.date.accessioned	2023-01-05T11:20:24Z
dc.date.available	2023-01-05T11:20:24Z
dc.date.issued	2022-09
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/14865
dc.description.abstract	The purpose of this study is to reconstruct a history of highway construction in Gojjam to 1991. The study employed a qualitative research approach in the sense that a large amount of primary and secondary data was collected from NALA, Weldemesqel Tariku Memorial Research Center, and DMUAC. Archival documents collected from NALA convey, among others, information from the periods of the Imperial and Derg regimes about the people’s demand for rural and feeder roads; public initiatives in the construction of rural and feeder roads;and the process of Däjän-Moţţa-Bahir Dar secondary highway construction. Likewise, the primary sources consulted from DMUAC deal withthe role of the Italians in the construction of Bahir Dar-Däjän gravel highway; the onslaught that nature exerted on the highway; and the involvement of the local people in the process of its repair. Furthermore, the archives mentioned above provide information on the history of Däjän-Moţţa-Bahir Dar, Injibara-Guba, and Buré-Näqämit feeder road construction. A good deal of newspapers consulted from IES, NALA, and Weldemesqel Tariku Memorial Research Center bear interesting information and pictures on the history of highway construction in the study area. Significant amount of published and unpublished secondary literature was also consulted from IES, NALA, DMUAC, ERA, Bahir Dar University libraries, and Bahir Dar Plan Commission center. These sources briefly describe the reconstruction of Bahir Dar-Däjän gravel highway and the construction of Däjän-Moţţa-Bahir Dar, Injibara-Guba, and Buré-Näqämit feeder roads. Basically, unpublished sources in the form of reports fairly state the progress of the construction and reconstruction work. Crucial oral sources were also collected among key informants from Bahir Dar, Piccolo, Durbété, Däbrä Marqos, and Moţţa. The major finding of this study is that before the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, there was only one gravel highway and one feeder road in Gojjam: Bahir Dar-Däjän gravel highway and Bahir Dar-Ţis Abbay feeder road. Inaccessibility of highways, therefore, significantly slowed down Gojjam’s socio-economic development. However, during the Derg Regime, 547 kms of all-weather roads and 991 kms of dry-weather roads were constructed. Of the 1,538 kms of roads, the longest feeder roads that fulfilled the criteria of secondary highway systems accounted for 675 kms. As a result, the road accessibility of Gojjam reached 75% and ranked the 5th in Ethiopia next to Šäwa, Harar, Sidamo, and Wällo provinces, respectively. Although the Derg Regime is criticized for its dictatorial rule in Ethiopia, it played a vital role in highway construction in Gojjam. Therefore, the expansion of highway networks facilitated the socio-economic development of Gojjam. The development of road accessibility, therefore, enabled peasants to get better market for their produces. The mobility of the people of Gojjam also sharply increased following highway accessibility. The data which was collected from the above sources was carefully selected, crosschecked, analyzed, and organized for its authenticity and credibility before it was established into a straightforward narrative in its current from	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	History and Heritage Management	en_US
dc.title	A History of Highway Construction In Gojjam To 1991	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US