Impact of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Manufacturing of the Traditional Fired Clay Bricks in Sudan

Abstract

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), one of the largest dam projects in the world is currently under construction on the Blue Nile River reach in Ethiopia. Such a massive project will have positive and negative impacts on downstream countries like Sudan. These impacts include impounding sedimentation and avoiding flood occurrence. Previous researches indicated that GERD is expected to impound up to 86% of the Blue Nile annual sediment yield. This is expected to adversely affect the manufacturing of traditional fired clay brick (TFCB) at the banks of both the Blue Nile and the Main Nile rivers. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of GERD on TFCB industry which utilizes the sediment as the main raw material in brick manufacturing. Based on the literature and brick market survey, it has been found from this study that the produced TFCB could be reduced by 68.8% following GERD. This reduction in TFCBs is expected to affect more than 170,000 workers around the country. Future studies and market plans are needed to fill the gap of the TFCB shortage.