Previously destroyed bridge in Now Ruzi now linked by new walkway, connects two communities

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

10.24.2011

Story by Spc. Melissa Stewart 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – As Zharay district officials and local influential elders cut the ribbon officially opening the new Now Ruzi bridge walkway, excited schoolchildren from the nearby Bagh-E-Pol school in eastern Zharay district eagerly anticipated the opportunity to avoid having to cross the Arghandab River everyday to school.

Soldiers with Combined Task Force Spartan’s 710th Brigade Support Battalion, and the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, along with officials from the Zharay district government, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Oct. 24, to open the bridge that now links the villages of Now Ruzi and Bagh-E-Pol. The bridge had been left in ruins for nearly 30 years after the Soviet forces destroyed it.

Welders from the 710th BSB built the $6,000 structure on site, joining two pieces of the walkway on site. Previously, schoolchildren would cross the Arghandab River everyday to reach school.

“A few weeks ago before the bridge was built, people were separated by a canal line and they couldn’t cross over to conduct business or connect to other family members,” said Lt. Col. Todd McCown, Stability Transition Team commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd IBCT.

Afghan and coalition security forces, along with the Zharay district governor, Niaz Sarhadi, participated in the ceremony, and after speeches from several Afghan leaders, the children, boys and girls, happily walked across the bridge.

The Bagh-E-Pol Bridge was a 10-day project for welders in 710th Brigade Support Battalion and their ANSF partners. The bridge will make commerce between the surrounding villages easier, and it will provide a safe passage for children going to school.

“What this does is enable foot traffic and commerce, a shorter avenue to get to markets and their family members on the other side of the community,” said McCown.

• Date Taken: 10.24.2011
• Date Posted: 10.26.2011 08:09
• Story ID: 79025
• Location: KANDAHAR PROVINCE, AF