Red Friday - Support the Troops

Joint Canadian-Afghan engineer effort restores traffic on Tarnak River bridge

By Captain Lena Angell

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A bridge severely damaged by a suicide bomber has been repaired through the joint efforts of Canadian and Afghan military engineers. A Mabey-Johnson prefabricated truss bridge is now in place on the section of Highway 4 spanning the Tarnak River that was destroyed on March 1, 2010, in an attack that claimed the lives of three people.

A crew of nine Afghan National Army sappers, and an equal number of Canadian soldiers, took two days to assemble the Mabey-Johnson bridge. About 40 meters long, it stretches over the section of the Tarnak River bridge on Highway 4, a few kilometers from Kandahar Airfield, where a suicide bomber drove his car into a on-coming ISAF convoy. The car was carrying a massive improvised explosive device, and the resulting blast killed two Afghan civilians and an ISAF soldier, and wounded three more local people. It also tore down a section of the bridge, part of a key access route linking Kandahar City with Pakistan.

“I am extremely proud of the work of my soldiers and very happy for the cooperation between ANA and Canadian soldiers. The building of this bridge is a symbol of Afghanistan’s persistence to not let the insurgents impede our country’s progress,” said ANA engineer Lieutenant Mohammad Fahim, who led the Afghan crew on the project.

“We began the project on March 10th with ANA and Canadian engineers working 24 hours a day to complete the job as expediently as possible so as to minimize impact on the local traffic. We had practiced assembling the bridge days prior, and it was incredible to observe the ANA apply the skills and see the project actually come together,” said the Canadian site co-ordinator, Lt Mike Veitch.

Laid over the original road surface, the Mabey-Johnson bridge is an interim repair that permits one lane of traffic. It will remain in place while the permanent reconstruction of the bridge is planned and implemented. When completed, the new Tarnak River bridge will restore two-lane traffic to 400 metres of Highway 4.

“The repair of the bridge is quite significant, not only allowing for [Afghan National Security Forces] and coalition forces freedom of movement but, more importantly, it allows for local Afghan mobility. It’s a main artery, and its repair means that trade and commerce can continue, which is a key factor to the development of Afghanistan,” said Captain Tyler MacLeod, a senior engineer mentor serving with the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.