Two years ago, traveling the 1,062 kilometers from Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, to the northwest city of Herat could take up to one week. The roadway, known as Highway 1, forms part of the country's ring road, connecting Afghanistan's major population centers. With more than 13 million Afghans living within 50 kilometers of the ring road, the corridor is a vital link for promoting economic activity and provides access to basics such as health care and education. Originally paved in the 1960s by U.S. foreign aid grants and the Soviets, its surface and several bridges had suffered severely from decades of neglect and lengthy wars. In the worst sections, speeds were limited to 10 kilometers per hour. Countless land mines hidden at the road edges made conditions even more hazardous and significantly prolonged travel times. As a result, reconstruction of this road became key to Afghanistan's economic renewal and to improve-ments in quality of life.

A SECTION of the Kabul-to-Kandahar highway, found to be in better shape than most other segments prior to reconstruction. Travel on other stretches was often limited to 10 kilometers per hour due to poor road conditions.

First Steps With the Taliban removed from power and emergency aid programs in place, early in 2002 the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) established the Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Services (REFS) program. Designed to promote economic recovery and political stability in Afghanistan, the program includes repairs to water lines, sanitation services, electrical distribution infrastructure, and irrigation systems. Improvements in access to education, health, and government services are also priorities. The main focus of the REFS program, however, is the rebuilding of Highway 1 from Kabul to Herat.

Figure 1: Afghanistans ring road links the countrys major cities. Reconstruction of the southern segment occurred in two phases.

In September 2002, the Louis Berger Group, Inc. received the contract to carry out the REFS program. The $250-million highway reconstruction project was broken into two phases (see Figure 1); the first phase, covering the roadway from Kabul to Kandahar, began in November 2002, with several subcontractors secured to complete the work.

Before construction crews could move in to prepare for repaving, two major tasks had to be completed. Removal of land mines from the sides of the roadway, to make the area safe for workers and equipment, assumed first priority. As manual techniques moved too slowly to support the project schedule, the United Nations Mine Action Center Afghanistan (UNMACA) was brought in to assist. An armored vehicle drove along the highway shoulders, collecting frequent air samples. The samples, labeled with GPS coordinates, then went to Kabul, where mine dogs analyzed them in a controlled laboratory environment. This method greatly narrowed the contaminated area requiring clearing, and increased efficiency by 400 percent.

As the new road would cover the existing one, a survey of the existing surface came next in the sequence. Efficient material management and design planning require accurate survey data. During Phase I, crews used traditional ground-based techniques to survey the road surface. The survey between Kabul and Kandahar moved slowly, taking 200 days to complete. Upon completion of de-mining and surveying, Berger engineers began the process of grading and paving the highway in the presence of more than 1,000 security personnel.