Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT■These regions are largely made of a clay/silt soil, known as‘Black Cotton Soil’, which stretches to depths of more thanfive metres and hence requires special, and expensive, constructiondesigns and techniques.■Deforestation is caused by excessive use of trees used toproduce burnt bricks. A typical brick production sitein Sudan.© S. Mwangi■ A lack of road infrastructure makes transport very expensiveand limits it to the dry seasons (in some areas, materialscan only be delivered by cargo planes). A health centre built withStabilised Soil Blocks in UpperNile Sudan.© S. MwangiBurnt bricksFormer colonial powers in Africa introduced burnt brick technologyfor modern construction. This technology was largelyadopted in many countries, but has gone on to cause desertificationand deforestation, especially in areas where trees areused as the main fuel for firing the bricks. Sudan has been noexception as the burnt brick technology is widely adopted forpublic buildings and permanent construction. So, whilst burntbricks are good for the construction of permanent structures,this technology has disadvantages:■■■Causes desertification with one tree required to burn every1,000 bricks.Bricks made traditionally are of irregular shape, needingmore mortar in construction.Brick makers suffer losses of 20 per cent to 50 per cent asbricks break when drying and burning.■ Bricks are not in standard sizes as different brick makers usedifferent moulds.■■Construction with bricks takes longer in comparison toconcrete blocks.Production requires massive pits that are often left open,degrading the land.Construction challenges in South SudanConstruction work in South Sudan faces several practical challenges,including:■■■A lack of trained or skilled Sudanese construction workers;major construction projects are undertaken by foreigncompanies.A lack of basic building materials such as cement, sand andgravel, raising prices.Large regions of South Sudan are flat and susceptible toflooding in the heavy rains.These challenges make general building construction very –sometimes prohibitively – expensive and put decent housingout of the reach of ordinary Sudanese.Sustainable construction approach in South SudanBuilding construction in South Sudan requires innovativeengineering solutions, with many regions requiring carefullytailored technologies. Challenges include:■■■■■Manufacturing cost-effective building materials from localsoils, using environmentally friendly approaches, in areaswhere sand and gravel are non-existent.Designing special foundations to be used in the unstableBlack Cotton soil.Training youth and former soldiers in construction skills toovercome skilled labour shortages (equipping them withvital skills, helping them participate in the reconstruction ofSouth Sudan, and curbing emerging crime caused by unemployment).Introducing environmentally friendly technologies that willcurtail further desertification caused by cutting of localindigenous trees used for burning bricks.Designing affordable buildings with good thermal insulatingproperties to protect against the hot temperatures ofSouth Sudan.Local organizations have been able to develop such solutions.Stabilized soil blocks are made from soil mixed with asmall amount of cement and are around 50 per cent cheaperthan burnt bricks. By using cement to stabilize the soils andbind sand, no firewood is needed. Their production processrequires only unskilled workers, rapidly creating employment.Special foundations have also been developed for constructionin Black Cotton soil.280