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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Sep 2006 : 17:03:10
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Bad roads are one of the main problems for the development in African countries. On my recent visit to Gambia I saw that dust roads which had been completed immediately before the beginning of the rainy season now are heavily damaged again.
I read that in Ruanda they take paving stones when they build new roads or repair old ones. This technique is much cheaper than asphalt. Even in tropical climate the roads last much longer and need less care (in Europe we have stone roads which are hundreds of years old), and the stone technique provides a lot of jobs for unemployed people. But you need to have the material, which means the country should have stone quarries. If Gambia could produce the stones, I think this could be a solution to the never ending road problems. Does anybody know if there are stone quarries in Gambia?
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Momodou
Denmark
11721 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2006 : 14:07:29
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Serenata, there used to be a quarry at Kotu where you have the dumpsite opposit the SOS.
Road constructors use temporary quarries up country. |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2006 : 14:47:06
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| Thanks, Momodou. I found some informations about the Gambia's geological structure saying that sandstone and laterite are abounding in the upriver areas. The quarries you mentioned must be there. I don't know how big they are, and if sandstone/laterite makes a good pavement. But I learned that certain types of these sediments are very hard, or harden after cutting. So, maybe it would be paying to test it. |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2006 : 17:02:39
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| Momodou, I almost forgot to say how much I like the new bantaba colours! |
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Momodou
Denmark
11721 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2006 : 23:14:46
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| Thanks Serenata! Lets hope some entrepreneur can see the benefit of starting a quarry for commercial purpose. The abundant stone circles in CRD are an evidence of how hardened the sand/laterite stones can be. |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 27 Sep 2006 : 12:23:46
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If I were Gambian and had the time + the money, I would like to start immediately! But the government could also do it; maybe they read this suggestion and make use of it... |
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Cornelius
Sweden
1051 Posts |
Posted - 27 Sep 2006 : 23:08:01
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quote:
Originally posted by serenata
Momodou, I almost forgot to say how much I like the new bantaba colours!
Me too!
We almost forgot to say how much we like the new bantaba colours!!
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Edited by - Cornelius on 27 Sep 2006 23:16:13 |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 27 Sep 2006 : 23:29:20
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I had initialy thought i was in a wrong site. I thought the magic water finally caught up with me. |
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Jack
Belgium
384 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 08:41:02
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Serenata,
I'm not an engineer in road works but to me it seems they make the top layer tOOOOO thin. As soon as a truck has an exploded tire (what happens very often) the asphalt is scratched and you see the red sand under the top layer of asphalt. After the first rain you do have an pothole.
Secundly they have to create solid shoulders on both sides of the road and border the asphalt with stones or concrete.
I travelled this year through Senegal (Casamance) and the roads there are a beauty in comparison with the Gambia. So it has nothing or little to do with the climate, but with good solid construction and maintenance.
Paved roads are Ok but only for the local road where no heavy trucks have to pass.
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 13:56:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Jack
Serenata,
I'm not an engineer in road works but to me it seems they make the top layer tOOOOO thin. As soon as a truck has an exploded tire (what happens very often) the asphalt is scratched and you see the red sand under the top layer of asphalt. After the first rain you do have an pothole.
True!!
quote:
Secundly they have to create solid shoulders on both sides of the road and border the asphalt with stones or concrete.
I travelled this year through Senegal (Casamance) and the roads there are a beauty in comparison with the Gambia. So it has nothing or little to do with the climate, but with good solid construction and maintenance.
...and perhaps with money flowing into the right direction...
quote:
Paved roads are Ok but only for the local road where no heavy trucks have to pass.
I don't know if this is the case. The German GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) is working with this project in the Region of Gikongoro/Ruanda; they will know. |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 14:09:07
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quote:
Originally posted by kondorong
I had initialy thought i was in a wrong site. I thought the magic water finally caught up with me.
Kondorong, you shouldn't drink more than two litres of the magic water per day. At least, together with all these bitter tomatoes, you'll get dyspepsy |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 17:52:22
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quote:
Originally posted by serenata
quote:
Originally posted by kondorong
I had initialy thought i was in a wrong site. I thought the magic water finally caught up with me.
Kondorong, you shouldn't drink more than two litres of the magic water per day. At least, together with all these bitter tomatoes, you'll get dyspepsy
That will be 730 liters in a year. I will have drowned in green and perhaps much greener than the BUHABA himself. I think a spoonful a day is enough |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 19:12:34
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| A green kondorong - very funny! |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2006 : 19:21:58
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quote:
Originally posted by serenata
A green kondorong - very funny!
You bet |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2006 : 13:52:19
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| Topic update: Meanwhile I asked GTZ about paved roads for Gambia. They said laterite as a sediment is not the right material for paving stones, but made some interesting proposals about its use for road construction. Maybe the government should contact them. |
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LEMON TIME
Afghanistan
1295 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2006 : 15:41:37
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| Bantaba colours,are they the Germans or cornelius |
There is no god but Allah |
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