ZHARAY DISTRICT, Afghanistan - U.S. soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment and soldiers from the 508th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division came together to deploy a rapidly emplaceable bridge May 9 and 10 in Zharay district, Afghanistan in order to allow security improvements in the area.
The bridge, spanning a wadi system characterized by soft dirt and rushing water, was placed to allow the construction of the Arc Wall, a defensive wall in southern Zharay. The bridge was necessary to support the weight of the vehicles and materials in construction.
“We needed a solution that would allow us to move our larger vehicles and equipment through the area without damaging the traditional wadi system,” said Capt. Brian Stange, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division engineer. “The rapidly emplaceable bridge, the REB, lets us do that.”
The REB, a bridge pulled on the back of a truck, has its own hydraulics and motors so the bridge span can be lowered straight to the ground. Ensuring the proper placement and use of them falls to engineers.
“We had to look at every stage of our operation to decide when we needed the bridge,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Petrone, an engineer with the 508th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. “We knew we needed roads to move Arc Wall materials on and we needed a bridge system to get them over the triple-wadi system here.”
The first phase, cutting a road to where the wall will sit, could be done with a dirt bridge and could be done before the REB arrived.
“The REB sits on a weaker bridge we built over the wadi to move road construction vehicles,” said Staff Sgt. Petrone. “The road only required a dozer which is lighter and could move over a dirt bridge, but we couldn’t get the wall over it. As we got done with cutting the road and ready to place the wall, we knew we had to get the REB down here. A nice thing about the REB is that when we leave we can take it with us to put somewhere else. The bridge we built to cut the road is strong enough for any farmers to move their goods on, so that will stay.”
The hope is that the infrastructure and security improvements will also help the economy in the area.
“The bridge on its own won’t do too much for the economy,” said Capt. Stange. “The people still need improved security before they change their ways. But we think the wall will improve security and then, with the infrastructure already in place, the economy will improve.”
| Date Taken: | 05.10.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2012 02:56 |
| Story ID: | 88611 |
| Location: | ZHARAY DISTRICT, AF |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, US soldiers emplace bridge to improve security, by SGT David Nye, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT