The Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program (AIRP) is a five-year program launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in August 2006 to support Afghanistan as it transitions to a stable and economically sustainable society. The Louis Berger Group, Inc./ Black and Veatch Special Projects Corp Joint Venture implemented the USAID program in partnership with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Afghan people. The program’s overall aim was to spur Afghanistan’s economic recovery and political stability through the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and development of important physical infrastructure throughout the country. In addition to improving physical infrastructure, the program helped to build the institutions overseeing Afghanistan’s infrastructure development by providing technical assistance to the Afghan government. This supported the establishment of an Afghan-led reconstruction effort and helped to ensure a sustainable basis to operate and maintain the infrastructure once implemented.
Under the AIRP program, LBG designed and managed construction of roads throughout Afghanistan, including the 103-kilometer Keshim to Faizabad Road, the 101-kilometer Gardez to Khost Road and the Southern Strategy Road in Kandahar province. We designed and completed initial construction activities on the Bamyan-Dushi Road, categorized by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) as a national highway and of strategic importance in providing an alternate route for travel between the north and central provinces of Afghanistan. In addition, we completed 11 community development projects along the Bamyan-Dushi corridor, including micro-hydro power, culverts, wells, spring containments and small roads.
LBG also worked closely with the Government of Afghanistan to develop a sustainable road management entity for Afghanistan and with the local private sector, which was contracted to perform routine and urgent maintenance on more than 1,500 kilometers of primary and provincial roads throughout Afghanistan. With USAID, LBG also instituted a capacity building program to teach road construction and maintenance techniques to its own local staff, to their counterparts at the MPW, and to private road maintenance contractors. The AIRP project has created more than 16,000 jobs in the region, and the infrastructure improvements have positively impacted the lives of an estimated 9,000,000 people.
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