Musa Qal’eh crossing

Photo By Russ Stewart | Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion FOUR’s Alfa and Delta companies place prefabricated concrete pieces in the riverbed at the Musa Qal’eh low water crossing project. NMCB FOUR is a component of the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command that provides contingency engineering and construction across Afghanistan in support of the overall mission of International Security Assistance Forces and regional combat commander requirements.  

MUSA QAL'EH, AFGHANISTAN

09.17.2011

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Russ Stewart 

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4

MUSA QAL’EH, Afghanistan - Twenty-five of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion FOUR’s Seabees began constructing the Musa Qal’eh Low Water Crossing to provide a lasting solution for a transportation route across the wadi (riverbed) to improve the Afghans’ quality of life and encourage stability in the district.

The Detail’s (Det) project at Musa Qal’eh is well underway. Each day the men and women go outside the wire for 10-12 hour work days and overcome many difficulties to instill faith in the Afghans that this crossing will be a lasting reality. In full “battle-rattle,” despite high temperatures, curious crowds, and the extreme precision required in placing up to 20,000 lb pieces of concrete, they continue to produce quality results.

“The amount of water in the ground makes the soil unstable; placing the pieces accurately is very difficult and requires extra effort to get them to all line up properly,” said Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Swagerty, a steelworker.

Area residents are naturally curious about the project being built in the middle of their main thoroughfare.

“Keeping them out of the project site is difficult because they’re friendly and curious and you don’t want to be rude,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Fernando Mendoza, an equipment operator .

Composed primarily of equipment operators to operate heavy equipment and steelworkers to weld all the pieces in place, the Seabees on this Det were hand-selected for this project because they are some of the best NMCB FOUR has to offer.

“Being away from the battalion mainbody means there is more to do and we get more experience,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Muckey, an equipment operator .

The Seabees’ hard work is becoming apparent as the first of two spans begins to take shape despite many obstacles to overcome. They will certainly leave their mark here as they provide Musa Qal’eh residents with a major link to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, centers of commerce, and populations to the south.

“I like working outside the wire, seeing the [Afghans] and knowing I’m making a difference!” said Steelworker Constructionman Brittney LeQuia.

During the rainy season, the now dry wadi becomes a surging river that isolates the district and turns it into an island traversable only by ferry. Previous attempts to bridge the wadi have degraded the faith of the people in the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force’s ability to provide a permanent solution. So low water crossing was conceived as a CERP, or Commander’s Emergency Response Program, project to turn the tide so-to-speak.

Numerous designs were proposed, and the battalion’s apprehension in the constructability of early designs was apparent as the deadline to start before the rainy season was fast approaching. At last a design was finalized and production of the pre-cast components was approved. Made of nearly 200 prefabricated reinforced concrete piece and held together by over 15,000 welds, enthusiasm for this design is evident.

“We are rotating through the work of welding, grinding and cutting so we don’t get tired of doing the same thing over and over,” said Steelworker Constructionman James McMahan.

To boost II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) confidence in the project, test the design, and work through assembly challenges in a safer environment, NMCB FOUR constructed a small portion of the crossing at Camp Leatherneck. All doubt was removed that a project of this magnitude and complexity was certainly within a Seabee battalion’s construction capabilities.

In the “Can Do” spirit, one Seabee, growing somewhat impatient with multiple design changes and meetings, simply stated, “Just tell us what you want, and we’ll get it built.”

• Date Taken: 09.17.2011
• Date Posted: 09.27.2011 05:28
• Story ID: 77623
• Location: MUSA QAL'EH, AF