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Fallujah's electric network to be upgraded

By Norris Jones
December 5, 2005

FALLUJAH, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 5, 2005)– Fallujah's electric network is undergoing a huge upgrade.

Michael Doty, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Central Project Engineer, says he decided to return to Fallujah for a second year to finish the work here.

“I believe in 12 months, people will be saying the city really turned things around here. That’s why I came back. I knew my mission wasn’t complete until we finished. The city’s totally renovated electrical distribution system is going to have a very positive impact.”

$620,000 Assessment completed

In November, experts completed a $620,000 assessment identifying every home and business, as well as determining load distribution, necessary repairs, upgrades, and new work required to rehabilitate the network in all 17 sectors of Fallujah, a community of 200,000 residents.

“We now know how many street lights we need, how many utility poles, what transformers are good, and how many need to be replaced throughout the city.” In all, about $30 million has been earmarked. “Our goal is to establish a dependable electrical network for 40,000 businesses and residences,” said Doty.

Currently, about 70 percent to 80 percent of the city has access to functioning utility lines with about 12 hours of power available daily.

Northern half of the city is operational

Most of the electric network in the northern half of the city is operational, but there are large areas in the southern half where extensive work is needed.

Fallujah’s Electric Department, in conjunction with the Ministry of Electricity, has hired additional workers and is steadily making progress in getting more of the city connected. It is a priority of the Fallujah City Council, as well as residents have attended that group’s weekly meetings asking for help, said Doty.

Rebuilding Fallujah’s electricity network involves the Project and Contracting Office, the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq GRC, the Ministry of Electricity and local contractors. Lieutenant Col. Stephen Wilson, U.S. Marine Corps, PCO’s Distribution Program Manager for the Electricity Sector, noted the assessment provided a clear picture of Fallujah’s requirements.

Wilson also pointed out they had allocated $7.86 million to build two new 33/11kV substations in Fallujah (doubling the number of substations there.)

“The associated 33kV feeders (estimated to cost $6 million) are scheduled to be awarded in early January 2006. These new additions to the 33kV system will greatly reduce the load being placed on the existing substations and will allow a larger portion of the city’s residents to receive more reliable power for longer periods of time,” Wilson said.

In addition, contracts will be let authorizing up to $6 million for utility poles, $3 million for cable, $1 million for streetlights, and an estimated $2.8 million for a new Fallujah Electrical Department Maintenance and Storage facility and equipment.

Corps of Engineers overseeing 59 projects

Including electricity, the Corps of Engineers is overseeing 59 reconstruction projects in Fallujah valued at $87 million.

Doty will finish his second one-year tour in November 2006, and is confident that the team consisting of PCO, JCC-I, GRC, the Ministry of Electricity, and Fallujah’s Electricity Department will have the upgrade complete.

“I enjoy working at the ground level -- seeing things getting done. We’re definitely making a difference for the people of this community,” he said.

(Editor’s note: Norris Jones is the Public Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Central.)