Road Construction and Gully Development in Hadero Tunto - Durgi Road Project, Southern Ethiopia

Poor drainage systems in roads are among causes of gully erosion and are common in Ethiopia. A study was conducted to assess gully development and perception of farmers on gully erosion problems along Hadero Tunto-Durgi road project, south Ethiopia. The road was built between 2006 and 2008. The study area covered 572 ha of Ereramo, Satame and Koka road sections. Field observations, gully measurement, and household survey were used to generate the necessary data. The study reveals that 20 new gullies have been created down slope of the investigated road segments. Their development is found to be associated mainly with culverts and roadside ditches. The soil loss rate by gully is estimated at 12.86t ha -1 y -1 and the total damaged area estimated at 16,109m 2 . The gully density 9.36 m/ha implies moderately to severely degraded situation. The house hold survey shows that about 96% of sample respondents have experienced problems of gully erosion. They explained that gullies became obstruction of tillage operation, cause for loss of soil and yield reduction, and restrict animal and human movement. The study concludes that if appropriate interventions are not carried out in the area, the rate of gully erosion will increase and reversing the process will be difficult.