Promising Technological Solutions for the Production of Compression-Molded Bricks in the Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

In this article, the general characteristics of the construction industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is described. It is shown that at this stage of development, Ethiopia is in acute need of various types of building materials and products, and in particular, wall products–bricks. Due to certain characteristics of the region, the problem of providing building materials is particularly acute in the northern Ethiopia in Mekelle city. Mekelle is the capital of the Tigray province, in the northern Ethiopia, where the cement and metallurgical plants are located. These enterprises can become the basis for the establishment of new enterprises for the production of building materials. Our feasibility studies have shown that the most promising direction for the development of wall products in the Tigray province, in terms of technical and economic plan, is organizing the production of non-fired compression-molded bricks based on carbonate rocks from local quarries and waste slag from the metallurgical plant. The current economic development of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia does not allow the organization of technologically complex and expensive production, and hence the manufactured products must have a minimum cost. Therefore, the technological lines for the production of compression-molded bricks based on the equipment manufactured in Russia, which is characterized by relative simplicity, reliability and low cost, can become the optimal solution for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to increase the output of wall products.