Photo By Staff Sgt. Jessica Lockoski | Sgt. Randy Elmore, team leader, Zombie Response Team, 525th Battlefield Surveillance...... read more read more
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SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - A vital highway reconstruction project to repair stretches of road near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is progressing ahead of schedule.
Highway 4 is often referred to as the “Gateway to Kandahar.” The stretch of road is the economic corridor that allows passage from the Weesh crossing, near the Pakistan border, to Kandahar City in Afghanistan.
“The project is significant because most of the commerce between the two countries in the southern region travels along that route,” said Col. James Edwards, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade commander, deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. “It is significant to International Security Assistance Force because it’s the number two ground line of communication. Many of our supplies travel through this area. It is also important because of international trade, the local economy and for ISAF to sustain operations here.”
The project, funded by the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, repairs 7.8 kilometers of road from the border to Spin Boldak.
“Many trucks that pass through here are overloaded, because they don’t have any transportation inspectors to inspect the weight of the vehicles,” said Jon Jorgenson, construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jorgenson oversees the Afghan-contracted project that began late December 2010.
“Some of these vehicles may be two or three times the weight of vehicles in the U.S., so the road sank and was unsafe,” the engineer said.
Local laborers dug up the dilapidated asphalt and soft dirt previously laid down. They set and compacted a base layer and aggregate, and will soon lay a new layer of asphalt.
Additionally, ruts and medians were removed from the highway to expand the the road into four lanes in the future and ease the flow of traffic.
Jorgensen said a project of this size would typically take six months to a year to complete, but it is progressing faster than expected and should be finished by late June.
“The contractor is moving along very well,” Jorgensen said. “Because the company is so good, we can move along with the project. It’s probably the best highway project I’ve seen from Qalat to Spin Boldak’s border; it’s going to be a good road.”
Commuters and delivery truck drivers crossing into Afghanistan will not be the only people to benefit from the reconstruction and durability of the new road. The trade-based communities who line the highway also profit.
“You can’t drive along this part of highway and not be amazed by the amount of bustling economic activity that is out there,” said Edwards. “With a better road, it will support more traffic and further assist the growth in the area. It will benefit the people of Spin Boldak and extend the development benefits, ultimately bringing stability to the region.”
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.19.2011 08:40 |
| Story ID: | 68965 |
| Location: | SPIN BOLDAK, AF |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Progress is prompt along the ‘Gateway to Kandahar’, by SSgt Jessica Lockoski, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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