Afghanistan Reflection

Watching the news on TV about Afghanistan has certainly made me reflect on the time I worked there, as some of the other posts I have seen on LinkedIn. It was around 15 years ago I last flew out of Afghanistan to return to Australia. Having spent three years in camps, guesthouses and firebases across Jaldek (Zabul), Kandahar, Lashkargah and around Tarin Kot, project managing roads.?

I was able to be a part of the road rehabilitation of the highway built by the Americans earlier between Kabul and Kandahar (flexible pavement) and saw some of my colleagues tackle the rehab of the Russian built rigid concrete pavement between Kandahar and Herat. You needed good suspension, a little teeth-chattering.

Being part of the USAID and UNOPS funded road programs, I had the opportunity to visit some of the other projects around the country for a rotating monthly meeting-great initiative by the program leaders. Each project in the program had its own set of unique challenges.

At the time, many nationalities were involved—my project team comprised American, Australian, Indian, Thai, South African, and, of course, the Afghan people. Not far away, there were other projects around Kandahar run by the Japanese. The Japanese had even brought over a stabilizer machine. Very much an international response and involvement.

For the roadworks, the heavy lifting in the early days was done by the Turkish and Indian contractors. The physical progress on site was not possible without the efforts of the people from those companies.

From an engineering perspective on the projects I was involved in, almost everything was self-sufficient–precast culverts, base course, asphalt. The country has this natural abundance to gift great material for road building—fill, base course.

I hope there is path forward—there were many Afghan engineers, office staff who I employed on the projects with which I hope can continue to ply their trade and grow their careers, somewhere in the future. Many fond memories and friends made, who I still call friends today.?