Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ange Desinor | Col. Heath Roscoe, left, commander of the 36th Engineer Brigade out of Fort Hood,...... read more read more
MONROVIA, Liberia – Soldiers of the 615th Engineer Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, out of Fort Carson, Colorado, repaired the Freeport road near the port, Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 14, in support of Operation United Assistance.
“Our mission here was to improve the Freeport access road,” said 1st Lt. Amanda Imperato, a North Reading, Massachusetts, native and a horizontal construction platoon leader for the 615th Eng. Co. “This allows better movement for us and the Liberian port authority, as well as maximum use of their ports.”
The Freeport road was in poor condition due to years of wear and tear. There were huge craters in the road, each needing about 10 cubic yards of fill, said Imperato.
“Imagine a huge crater the entire width of the road by five feet long and at least a foot deep,” said Imperato. “That's how big they were.”
Sergeant Wesley Snead, a Beckley, West Virginia, native and a heavy equipment operator for the 615th Eng. Co., said the reconstruction on the road will minimize damages to vehicles going to and from the port.
The Soldiers used graders, loaders and skid steers to repair the road.
“We used the scarifier on the graders to break and loosen the soil. Then we put down six-inch minus on the road,” said Snead. “Then we used the rollers to compact it. We used pea gravel and the water truck to help make it compact.”
Snead said his Soldiers repeat the process if needed. The road is more than a third-of-a-mile long.
The repairs to Freeport Road are almost complete and besides helping U.S. troops, the Liberians will be able to use the road for years to come without damaging their vehicles.
“It is a rewarding feeling that the Liberians want us here and they appreciated our help,” said Snead. “The port authority shut the road down so that incoming traffic didn't slow us down. I'm happy that we're here and it's a good experience for the Soldiers to be a part of this mission.”
Imperato said she's learned a lot and the project was a good experience for her.
It was difficult to maneuver through the road because of concrete walls on each side and the length of the trailers, Imperato said. The Soldiers got really creative and used outside resources to help with the mission.
“Seeing my Soldiers willing and excited to accomplish their mission just makes me happy,” said Imperato. “I'm very proud of them because they have exceeded my expectations.”
The repairs to the road were estimated to take five days to complete and it only took two days, said Imperato. The Soldiers rotated on 24-hour shifts to complete the mission.
| Date Taken: | 01.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.16.2015 05:17 |
| Story ID: | 152143 |
| Location: | MONROVIA, LR |
| Hometown: | BECKLEY, WV, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH READING, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 290 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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