U.S., Afghan Engineers Join Together to Build Roads

11 August 2009

By Howard Cincotta
Special Correspondent
 

Documents & Texts from America.gov

Washington — In 2007, two engineers — Abdul Hadi Rakin of the U.S.-based Society of Afghan Engineers and Michael Goode of the American Society of Civil Engineers — travelled to Afghanistan to assess the country's infrastructure and develop a proposal for engineer training at Kabul University.

They found that, despite roads and power systems that had suffered from neglect during years of war, a number of Afghan engineering and construction companies were already working to restore the infrastructure.

Most of these Afghan companies were subcontractors for U.S. companies working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The close ties that were already building between Afghan and U.S. engineers provided a foundation for the training program that Rakin and Goode had in mind. Their ultimate goal was to restore the number of skilled engineers in Afghanistan to a healthy number and to update the skills of Afghan engineers already at work. The profession was under stress after many engineers left the country during years of Russian occupation and civil war.

Rakin and Goode found that younger Afghan engineers and builders were already being mentored informally while working on construction projects with more seasoned American and Afghan professionals.

Rakin, who manages $400 million in Afghan roadway projects for international engineering firm Louis Berger Group, believes in the benefit of such on-the-job interaction. It might slow down a project, but it helps professionals learn good practices.

Rakin's Society of Afghan Engineers, founded in the United States but now with members in Canada and Germany as well, comprises members of Afghan descent who regularly volunteer to help reconstruct their homeland and, in the process, boost the skills of their Afghan counterparts.

Referring to some of the Afghan engineers, Rakin said, "We have to bring their technical capabilities up so they can do some of this work themselves."

Frederic Berger, chairman of the Louis Berger Group, agrees, though he admits that a business owner can be conflicted when setting priorities among the need to earn money, save time and train engineers. "If you want it done quickly, you don't have time to train people. Training involves making mistakes and learning from mistakes," he said. But he believes training should be a top priority in Afghanistan.

Berger's commitment to training is important: His company is internationally known for engineering expertise and innovative techniques. A project to repave the Kabul-Kandahar road with new asphalt-laying methods was a finalist for the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, given by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Berger Group repaved 289 kilometers of mine-infested roadway in 230 days.

Engineering Workshops

The trip in 2007 by Rakin and Goode ended with their two associations joining Kabul University in a pilot program consisting of three 10-day workshops for Afghan engineers in 2007 and 2008. Each workshop was headed by a team of volunteer expatriate engineers. The 60 Afghan engineers and builders who attended the workshops were employed by companies already involved in reconstruction work.

Kabul University provided the venue for the workshops, which were also attended by the chancellor of Kabul University and the dean of its School of Engineering.

"A measure of success was that more people attended the last day of the workshop than attended the first," said Mike Sanio, director of international alliances for the American Society of Civil Engineers, which has 140,000 members.

Sanio said that while the United States and other countries have put development resources into roads, power, water supply and irrigation in Afghanistan, "our interest is to help engineers, at whatever level, effectively manage those resources."

His group and Rakin's plan to continue to mentor Afghan engineers through USAID, specifically its Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program, launched in 2006. USAID has conducted seminars in Kabul, Herat and Kandahar for more than 100 representatives of local construction firms bidding on contracts to repair and maintain the 1,500 kilometers of roads the agency has built in Afghanistan since 2002.

USAID has undertaken infrastructure projects in Afghanistan since 2002, beginning its work after the fall of the Taliban. Since then, it has repaired more than 700 kilometers of the nation's Ring Road, the entire Kabul-Kandahar-Herat highway, and 800 kilometers of provincial and district roadways. It has built power transmission plants in Kandahar, Lashkar Gah and Qalat.

The Society of Afghan Engineers is seeking funding to establish a five-year training program in Afghanistan, according to society board member Mark Kadir. "Our goal is to offer vocational training in fields like welding and carpentry as well as engineering education," he said.

Meanwhile, engineers from Afghanistan and the United States will continue working side by side. "If we involve the people and let them know that they did good jobs and they make money, that helps the economy," Rakin said. "It helps development, and it will, in turn, help stability and peace."

For more information, see the Web sites of the USAID Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program, ASCE International and the Society of Afghan Engineers.