Rib Dam project is located in the North-Western part of the Ethiopia, defmed by therngeographic coordinate of 12Â° 02' 30" N and,37Â° 59' 45" E. The primary purpose of this damrnproject is to provide irrigation to 19000 hectare of land. The proposed dam height would be 54 mrnwith a crest length of 700 m. The total storage capacity of the reservoir would be about 204 Mrnm3rn.rnIn the present study engineering geological characterization of soils and rocks of thernstudy area has been carried out to evaluate the dam foundation condition and thernreservoir water tightness. In addition to this stability condition of the abutment andrnreservoir slopes has also been studied. Besides, the suitability of the construction materialrnavailable in the vicinity of the project area has also been studied.rnThe engineering geological appraisal of the dam project has been after carrying out insiturnand laboratory testing on soils and rocks and determining the index and engineeringrnproperties.rnGeological maps of the reservoir area and the dam site has been produced at the scale ofrn1:25000 and I :10,000, respectively. Besides, based on the engineering characterization ofrnrocks and soils of the area Engineering geological maps were also produced for the damrnsite and the reservoir areas on the scale of 1 :2000 and 1: 10,000, respectively.rnThus, based on the engineering geological appraisal of the site the dam foundation arearnhas problem of seepage at the abutments and settlement at the valley floor area. Hencerncertain recommendations to improve the foundation strength and seepage conditions hav~rnbeen made. Besides recommendations on the construction material and the water tightnessrnof the reservoir have been made. In addition, further detailed studies on the damrnfoundation conditions and the reservoir area have been recommended.