BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (July 26, 2008) — The Konar River runs for 150 km and serves as a natural border between eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. Although the villages along the eastern and western banks of the river are part of Konar, the river reinforces cultural and political alliances between Afghans on the eastern shore and tribesmen across the border in Pakistan. The people on the east have had very little connection to the provincial government.

To resolve this problem, the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team has embarked on a bridge-building strategy to connect the Afghan government to the five provincial districts on the east of the Konar River.  Until recently Afghans in Khas Konar, Sarkani, Naray, Marawara and Dangam Districts looked to Pakistan for cultural affiliation, services and trade.

Currently the two bridges connecting the eastern side of the river with the west are in Nawabad and Asmar.  These bridges are the only means of vehicle access to the provincial center. The five new bridges under construction by the PRT are the Guryak, Khas Konar, Marawara, Bar Sholtan and Saw Bridge. The new bridges will accommodate two-way commercial truck traffic and will connect residents from the isolated areas along Pakistan’s border with the rest of Konar.

Navy Lt. Matthew Myers, Konar PRT Engineer, said that all construction work is being performed by local Afghan companies.

“These projects demonstrate that Afghan engineers are capable of building large scale and technically-challenging projects,” Myers said.

Myers also reported that residents on both sides of the river enthusiastically support the bridges.

“Due to the popularity of the bridges there have been no attacks on the projects,” Myers said. “Each bridge has an estimated lifetime of 60 years so the benefits will last for generations of Afghans.”

“The bridges will further legitimize the Afghan Government to the people in these areas, showing that the Afghan government is capable of bringing large-scale infrastructure projects to an area neglected by 30 years of war,” said Navy Cmdr. Daniel Dwyer, Konar PRT commander.

Construction is on time and on budget. The five bridges will be completed between October 2008 and March 2009. Gov. Sayeed Wahidi, Konar’s provincial governor, sees the five bridges as transformational, he said.

“These bridges will give [the Afghan National Security Forces] access to the most problematic areas of Konar,” Sayeed said. “They will disrupt the insurgency along the border districts and will connect the Afghan citizens to markets, health care and the provincial government.”