Army engineers build bridges linking northern Iraq
by Spc. Robert WoodwardMOSUL, Iraq (Army News Service, May 2, 2003) - Near the stone-age village of Mulayfaht, where cuneiform symbols were in use as many as 7,000 years ago, a pair of modern military bridges have begun making life easier for the Iraqi people.
During a three-day project, engineers of the 101st Airborne Division spanned the Kazer River, a tributary of the Tigris, and handed over control of the bridges to local officials May 1.
The construction effort is part of stability support operations the 101st is conducting in northern Iraq, said Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, division commander.
"We've all been working very, very hard since coming to this area," Petreaus said.
"Working to ensure security, flow of fuel and propane, delivery of other commodities, and the reopening of schools. The situation gets a little better each day, but there is a great deal of work ahead."
The new bridges eased congestion along Highway 2, a main artery between Mosul and Erbil, the two largest cities in northern Iraq. The four-lane highway crossed the Kazer over two bridges, both of which were partly blown up by Iraqi forces during the war.
"The one on the south side was only partially destroyed, and the Iraqi people are traveling over it on two lanes, so it's rather unsafe." said Maj. Christopher Lestochi, assistant division engineer. "Repairing the northern bridge, which was completely disabled, made it safer and improved traffic."
The first day of work began when the "Sappers" of the 326th Engineer Battalion out of Fort Campbell, Ky., cleared away the collapsed portion of the northern bridge, which leaned precariously on supporting pylons.
"We didn't want to destroy the bridge any more than necessary," said Staff Sgt. Karl Wilkin, combat engineer, 326th Eng. Bn. "To save the rest of the bridge, we placed counterforce charges at least three quarters of the way up the spanners."
The careful placement of C-4 plastic explosives would allow the damaged bridge section to fall to the riverbed without striking the pylons, which could cause the rest of bridge to tumble down, Wilkin said.
A 25-foot hydraulic excavator was used to move rubble away from the work area and then to raise combat engineers up under the bridge to place the charges. Steel pickets and wooden beams were used to wedge explosives into place, and then fuse line was let out 500 meters to the detonation site.
Soldiers of the 310th Psychological Operations Company roved the area, using loudspeakers mounted on their humvee to instruct gathering villagers in Arabic to move back and take cover. Traffic was blocked from the east and west. OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters flew over the site watching for breaches in safety and security.
The first explosion shook the air, but had little effect on either the bridge or the villagers.
"We are used to this sound," said Lukmin, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party who volunteered to help with traffic control. "We are used to bombs."
After more charges were detonated and the bridge still did not fall, soldiers began to make jokes.
"The hand of the ghost of Saddam is holding it up!" exclaimed one soldier.
"The bridge is French-made," said another soldier. "They've found another way to block us."
After the addition of crater charges to propel the end of the bridge upward, both the span, and night, fell. According to Lestochie, the battalion had used more than 1,000 lbs. of explosives to knock down the bridge section and didn't do any damage to the nearby villages or harm the people.
"If it were a complete bridge, we could make accurate calculations," Lestochie said. "With part of the bridge fallen, we didn't know how the structural forces were arrayed. We had to be cautious."
Tuesday morning, the 299th Engineer Company of Fort Belvoir, Va., prepared to put up a single-lane Medium Girder Bridge, composed of aluminum and especially designed for quick work.
During the war, this same company paddled boats across the Euphrates during combat, and bridged the river, enabling the 3rd Infantry Division's advance on Baghdad.
"We arrived on site, dropped the pallets containing the bridge parts, did a recon and measured the gap to see how many links of the bridge needed to go in," said Sgt. 1st Class Bradford A. Hart, bridge-site noncommissioned officer in charge. "We needed 16 links to span 34 meters."
Hart drew his crew together, stretched them out for what was to be a very physical performance, and told them what their jobs were for the day. In a scene of controlled chaos, soldiers scrambled in groups amid throaty commands from Hart, picking up bridge pieces weighing as much as 600 pounds and assembling them.
First, the bridging company set up the staging portion of the bridgeworks, which acts as a launching mechanism for the boom. The boom is extended link by link until it reaches the far side. Then the boom is used to support the bridge as it is pushed over the gap, in increments, by a large truck.
"We boomed the bridge across until we reached the far shore," Hart said. "Then we dropped it down, added the ramps and deck to it, and four hours and 45 minutes later, it's ready for traffic."
Though the bridge was constructed with blinding speed, it's no slapstick structure.
"It's a one-lane bridge that can hold 70 tons," Hart said. "Anything the military has, to include a fully-loaded Abram's tank, can cross this bridge, so definitely this bridge can handle civilian traffic."
Wednesday a section from the 74th Multi-Role Bridge Company, Fort Hood, Texas, arrived and added another lane to the northern bridge using the Army's new Dry Support Bridge.
"We're the only company in the United States Army that has this bridge and this is the first time it's been used operationally in any theater," said Capt. Ann Marie Scott, commander, 74th MRBC.
The British-designed DSB is replacing the Medium Girder Bridge in the Army's bridge companies for a reason, Scott said. She said it's stronger, more compact, and is built even more quickly.
The main advantage in setting up the DSB is the vehicle that lifts everything up, Scott said.
"The soldiers aren't picking up the heavy pieces," Scott said. "We built this bridge with eight people, far less than were on the MGB."
The DSB bridge could also support 30,000 more pounds, and when the project was complete, there were enough parts to construct three more bridges.
"We put the launch beam out and then slid the parallel and ramp modules across," Scott said. "Then we set it down, completing the build to standard in two hours."
During the operation, a number of the people from the nearby villages of Sherkan and Hasansharmi approached soldiers-some trying to sell cigarettes or ice cream, some to make friends, and still others with more serious concerns.
"The Iraqi electrical repair people were repairing the lines west of here," Lestochie said. "They came to us this morning concerned about going into the transformer station because they thought perhaps there were unexploded bombs or ordnance in there. We sent our engineers and cleared it for them."
Locals tipped off the engineers to a number of weapons caches in the area. Each claim was inspected by the battalion to learn more about the alleged caches and unexploded ordnance, Lestochie said.
"In cases where we identified unexploded ordnance or abandoned military equipment, we sent engineers out to either dispose of the UXOs, destroy the equipment, or at least record the data so we can get the guys from Explosive Ordnance Disposal out here," he said.
For Othman, an archeology student at the University of Mosul who led engineers to weapons caches and unexploded bombs, the writing on the wall was easy to read.
"Saddam was very cruel," Othman said. "He took much and gave us little. This is a rich country, yet we have nothing but bombs and guns. The bridge is very good."
Although the soldiers weren't able to resolve every problem, one more step was made toward restoring the economy and security of the region.
"This is a very symbolic occasion as we turn over these bridges to the Iraqi people," Petraeus said. "It symbolizes the whole effort of the U.S. and coalition forces, working together with the people of Iraq, to help realize the full potential of the great opportunity that lies ahead of them."
(Editor's note: Spc. Robert Woodward is an Army journalist covering the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq.)
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