KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed extensive refurbishments and upgrades of the Afghanistan National Border Police Company Unit facility in Musa Abadin, Herat province, June 20, well ahead of schedule.
The facilities, renovated and improved by an Afghan-owned and operated construction firm with oversight by the Afghanistan Engineer District-South, will serve as a base of operations for 100 personnel.
The $4.4 million project included the design and construction of site improvements including the refurbishment as well as some new construction of utilities, roads, buildings, force protection measures, site security, and de-mining activities.
“This project, perhaps more than others, really stands out as a clear example of why integrating local Afghan engineering professionals into our project delivery teams is critical to success,” explained Viet Nguyen, a registered professional engineer and certified project management professional who served as the USACE project manager for the project in Musa Abadin. “Due to the extreme remoteness of the site, this project was completed without USACE personnel visiting the site and instead, we relied on our contracted, local Afghan engineering professionals [not affiliated with the construction firm] to submit photos, video, and other important status updates about the project. We also used UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] flyovers to obtain images of progress.”
Since security and stability are linked to economic development, USACE procures Afghan goods as well as services whenever the acceptable standards for security, quality, price and reliability are met. Contracting Afghan engineering professionals and integrating them into USACE project delivery teams has been vital to successfully completing construction projects in Afghanistan. USACE has contracted about 400 Afghan engineering professionals since 2003.
Since its creation in 2009, the Afghanistan Engineer District-South has overseen construction of more than 50 Afghan National Police facilities.
“Delivering this important facility ahead of schedule speaks to the commitment and drive of the USACE project delivery teams,” said Nguyen.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2013 04:19 |
| Story ID: | 109560 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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