Afghan, US Engineers wrap up construction workshop

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team engineers concluded a construction workshop for Afghan engineers from the province in the Bazarak Municipality, March 28.

Afghans from 13 construction companies received classroom and practical application training during the weeklong workshop. To help prevent common construction errors, they developed knowledge and awareness of useful techniques with the Afghans.

“They’ve been using such outdated practices that they were actually pretty open to learning proper construction techniques,” said Scott Davis, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction representative with the PRT.

The first three classes involved tying and placement of rebar, and proper ways to mix and pour concrete.

“The PRT engineers pointed out deficiencies we knew we had, but didn’t know how to fix,” said Haji Ghulam Nabi Yaqoobi, director of the Yaqoobi Construction and Road Construction Company, through an interpreter. “So, thanks to the classes they gave, we now have more tools to work with to make our jobs that much better.”

The next two days focused on safety and project management.

“One of the things we identified was the lack of safety practices on the job site,” said Davis, an Omaha, Neb., native. “Our goal was to educate them in some of the basic safety practices that will decrease the probability of an accident. This goes along the lines of having a clean, organized job site and wearing hard hats, eye protection and proper footwear.”

Engineers also stressed the importance of scheduling and project management.

“The importance of compiling an accurate schedule and holding to that schedule makes the end-user happy, and makes the contractor more reliable and efficient,” said Davis.

On the final day of the workshop, the group gathered around concrete beams to assess their work. A crane lifted the beams and a 15-ton jack applied pressure to assess the breaking point, or faults, in the concrete.

“The testing of the beams showed the Afghan engineers the effects of improper rebar installation, poor concrete mix and cold joints,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Brian Jackson, the Panjshir PRT chief engineer and South Haven, Mich., native. “Showing them the effects of the improper techniques demonstrated the major differences between the application of doing it right and wrong. We’re confident that they grasped the training and will have a great take away from the workshop.”