The Asphalt Ribbon of Afghanistan - Louis Berger PDF
Preview The Asphalt Ribbon of Afghanistan - Louis Berger
The Asphalt Ribbon of Afghanistan Rebuilding the Kabul-to-Kandahar Highway By Xavier A. Cronin Introduction by Andrew S. Natsios Photo by Joe Pecht K-K, Kilometer 44, March 24, 2003 The Asphalt Ribbon of Afghanistan Karshi Dushanbe U Z B E K I S T A N 2 Kilometer 43: December 2003 Kulob T A J I K I S T A N Qurghonteppa Mary C H I N A T U R K M E N I S T A N Termez Feyzabad KONDUZ Mazar-e-Sharif Taloqan Sheberghan Konduz BADAKHSHAN SAMANGAN B A L K H Mashhad TAKHAR FA R YA B J O W Z J A N Aybak Baghlan Meymaneh BAGHLAN KAP ISA KONARHA Qal eh-ye Charikar Mahmud-e-Eraqi B A D G H I S Bamian PARVAN LAGHMAN Asadabad Mehtar Lam B A M I A N Chaghcharan Kabul Mayda Shahr Jalabad Herat KABOL VARDAK NANGARHAR G H O W R Srinagar H E R AT LOWGAR Peshawar Baraki Barak A F G H A N I S T A N Islamabad Gardez Ghazni Rawalpindi PAKT IA O R U Z G A N GHAZNI I R A N Zareh Sharan FA R A H Tarin Kowt Farah PAKT IKA Z A B O L Qalat P A K I S T A N Lashkar Gah Kandahar Lahore Amritsar Faisalabad Zaranj H E L M A N D Q U A N D A H A R N I M R U Z I N D I A Quetta Zahedan 0 100 200 Kilometers Amu Darya Karshi Dushanbe U Z B E K I S T A N Kulob T A J I K I S T AKi lNom eter 43: December 2003 3 Qurghonteppa Mary C H I N A T U R K M E N I S T A N Termez Feyzabad K O N D U Z Mazar-e-Sharif Taloqan Sheberghan Konduz B A D A K H S H A N S A M A N G A N BALKH Mashhad TA K H A R FARYAB JOWZJAN Aybak Baghlan Meymaneh B A G H L A N K A P I S A K O N A R H A Qal eh-ye Charikar Mahmud-e-Eraqi BADGHIS Bamian PA RVA N L A G H M A N Asadabad Mehtar Lam BAMIAN Chaghcharan Kabul Mayda Shahr Jalabad Herat K A B O L VA R D A K N A N G A R H A R GHOWR Srinagar HERAT L O W G A R Peshawar Baraki Barak A F G H A N I S T A N Islamabad Gardez Ghazni Rawalpindi PA K T I A ORUZGAN G H A Z N I I R A N Zareh Sharan FARAH Tarin Kowt Farah PA K T I K A ZABOL Qalat P A K I S T A N Lashkar Gah Kandahar Lahore Amritsar Faisalabad Zaranj HELMAND QUANDAHAR NIMRUZ I N D I A Quetta Zahedan 0 100 200 Kilometers Amu Darya i Kilometer 43: December 2003 The blacktop is down at Kilometer 372—110 kilometers northeast of Kandahar, November 2003. Kilometer 43: December 2003 ii Prologue Kilometer 43: December 2003 A wiND swepT Across The DeserT TerrAiN under a cloudless blue sky. Mountains loomed in the distance. It was bone-chilling cold. And the blacktop was down. This was the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, 43 kilometers southwest of Kabul on Highway One, the morning of December 16, 2003. The road, stretching 482 kilometers (300 miles) from Kabul to Kandahar, would soon be offcially opened with the country’s president cutting a ceremonial ribbon. Hundreds of people gathered for the event, sitting on fold-out chairs in front of a makeshift stage or mingling nearby. Villagers arrived from provinces along the highway. Members of Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga, the legislative body convened two days before, were among the throng.1 Security forces with automatic rifes mixed with the crowd. Snipers from the U.S. Army’s Fifth Brigade were positioned out of sight—in valleys, foothills, on roofs of construction camp buildings. CNN and other news organizations were among the scrum of camera crews, photographers and reporters recording the event. The big international news of the day was the capture of Saddam Hussein three days before, but the highway opening represented a milestone in the “war on terror” and a civil engineering feat on a scale and at a pace without comparison. The Louis Berger Group archival photo K A Z A K H S T A N iii Kilometer 43: December 2003 K Y R G Y Z S T A N U Z B E K I S T A N T A J I K I S T A N C H I N A T U R K M E N I S T A N Mazar-e-Sharif Kabul Herat A F G H A N I S T A N Kandahar P A K I S T A N I R A N I N D I A 0 50 100 Kilometers
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