Inspection of Damte dam, Ethiopia, May 2018

In 2001, with the thesis of the then postgraduate student of the School of Civil Engineering of NTUA Evgenia Arapaki (see link below), an initiative begun to construct the small dam Damte in South-Western Ethiopia as a pilot project to deal with the intense drought problems in Ethiopia. The project was accomplished (in 2006), with full funding from Greek sources and with the participation of other students and professors of the School.

Now the graduating student of the School Ioanna Kouki is working in the frame of her diploma thesis on the assessment of the dam. Between 8/5 and 14/5/2018, a mission of the School took place in the area with the said student and the member of the Lab Teaching Staff Dr. Haris Saroglou. The mission was made possible thanks to the support and organization of the Ethiopian Honorary Consul in Greece, Terina Armenakis, who managed to find sponsors for the mission. (The School did not contribute financially). The purpose of the visit was to inspect the current situation, assess the operation of the dam and identify any problems.

This small scale irrigation dam is a characteristic example of the positive effect that Civil Engineering works can have on the living conditions of people and local societies.