KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Afghanistan Engineering District-South came within three percent of its construction goals set for July and August, bringing the district within reach of its fiscal year 2012 goals.
July and August can be slow construction months because of the Ramadan and Eid holidays according to Bill Stout, deputy chief of engineering and construction at the South District, and this year there was evidence of the slow down.
“Last year there was little effect as we were pouring concrete for aircraft aprons at night so the Ramadan daytime fast did not interfere,” noted Stout. “This year we are seeing much more of a hit both in construction placed and pay applications submitted as our contractors are erecting arch-span structures, and other traditional daytime work. The pay applications were slow because of the observance of Eid in early August.”
Even with the slowdown of placement relative to last year, the South District placed $54.5 million worth of construction in July and $55.5 million in August.
“The larger Afghan National Army projects are moving at 24-hour per day schedules to recover lost production time,” remarked Stout. “So, I expect that by the end of the fiscal year, we should see placement reach the $710 million range.”
For a contingency environment, that volume of placement is quite good said Stout. “Last year’s closing placement was $527 million. This year we are going to see about a 136 percent increase even with the summer lull.”