After billions in U.S. investment, Afghan roads are falling apart - Polidicks

[B]Source:[/B] [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/after-billions-in-us-investment-afghan-roads-are-falling-apart/2014/01/30/9bd07764-7986-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html]Link[/url] [quote]SAYEDABAD, Afghanistan — They look like victims of an insurgent attack — their limbs in need of amputation, their skulls cracked — but the patients who pour daily into the Ghazni Provincial Hospital are casualties of another Afghan crisis. They are motorists who drove on the road network built by the U.S. government and other Western donors — a $4 billion project that was once a symbol of promise in post-Taliban Afghanistan but is now falling apart. Western officials say the Afghan government is unable to maintain even a fraction of the roads and highways constructed since 2001, when the country had less than 50 miles of paved roads. The deterioration has hurt commerce and slowed military operations. In many places, the roads once deemed the hallmark of America’s development effort have turned into death traps, full of cars careening into massive bomb-blast craters or sliding off crumbling pavement.[/quote]

It's kinda hard to maintain roads when there is no money to do the maintaining

So it's basically like U.S. roads.

Gotta love that high quality contractor work. Billions well spent.

[QUOTE=Explosions;43741570]So it's basically like U.S. roads.[/QUOTE] Unless you live in Kansas. The highways are great here, huge difference when you cross the border to MO or OK.

The situation in Afghanistan is miserable. The people who make up the civil patrols are a mix of those who actually care and want to improve things, and heroin addicts (also child rapists and a wide variety of ne'er-do-wells, just to count them) who spray and pray and think they'll be inheriting all the US military hardware once the US leaves. Those who actively care are sadly in the minority, and the heroin addicts are pretty much high and dry because our military made it a point to not repeat the mistake of the Soviets and destroyed or shipped back everything.

It's sort of hard to maintain roads when they're being constantly dug up to have IED's planted under them, just saying.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;43741654]The situation in Afghanistan is miserable. The people who make up the civil patrols are a mix of those who actually care and want to improve things, and heroin addicts (also child rapists and a wide variety of ne'er-do-wells, just to count them) who spray and pray and think they'll be inheriting all the US military hardware once the US leaves. Those who actively care are sadly in the minority, and the heroin addicts are pretty much high and dry because our military made it a point to not repeat the mistake of the Soviets and destroyed or shipped back everything.[/QUOTE] And then in this case, like the article mentions, the big problem here is that the Afghan Public Works Ministry is still operating as it was 40+ years ago when it was cooperating with the Soviet Union. They and the rest of the government are just totally incompetent; they won't work with contractors to perform even the most basic and simple maintenance tasks, the country itself is so wholly dependent upon foreign aid to actually build things that there's no way they can implement projects on their own, they can't effectively deal with the insurgents who are (to make matters worse) destroying the roads with IEDs. Afghanistan is just one massive clusterfuck. So massive it's legendary. But everyone already knew that.

[QUOTE=Explosions;43741570]So it's basically like U.S. roads.[/QUOTE] Oh don't you fucking dare to complain about your roads American [IMG]http://newzar.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/polskie_drogi.jpg[/IMG]

Well, whatever roads they build in Afghanistan probably don't melt in 85°F heat.

At least they have the justification that their roads are blown up. My municipality spent the years road budget on blacktopping the mayors private road :(

[QUOTE=bigdandyd;43741639]Unless you live in Kansas. The highways are great here, huge difference when you cross the border to MO or OK.[/QUOTE] You can tell which OK highways my Uncle was a part of, because any highway his team didn't do is immediately called out. "Aaaaaaand here. From here on, we didn't do this road. Fucking terrible... -angry mutters-"

Infrastructure is needed in any modern country but it costs. Not only do you have to pay to build it, then you pay to maintain it. Then you pay to replace elements as needed. That's assuming you have a steady flow of workers and qualified specialists, like engineers. Of course, you have to pay these people too. And you won't have these people unless you also have an education system cranking them out. You have to pay to establish and maintain that educational system. Nation building is not so simple as "Give them 10 billion dollars and build them some stuff" "Done!".

[QUOTE=proch;43741980]Oh don't you fucking dare to complain about your roads American [IMG]http://newzar.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/polskie_drogi.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] I've seen worse

[QUOTE=proch;43741980]Oh don't you fucking dare to complain about your roads American [IMG]http://newzar.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/polskie_drogi.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] That looks like Cleveland, I was up there for a few weeks and every fucking road looked like that.

North Dakota has some of the best roads I have ever been on. Also all that oil money doesn't hurt.

[QUOTE=Explosions;43741570]So it's basically like U.S. roads.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://facepunch.com/image.php?u=343843&dateline=1391179792[/IMG] The photos in the article are incredible. Most people probably read and have big potholes in their minds, but actually seeing it is something else. There's truck-sized craters with drop-offs so sharp you literally wouldn't see them before you were falling in to them. It's astonishingly bad. And I can guarantee that half the reason they don't waste time fixing them is because they KNOW that in a week or two some other idiot jihad will blast a fresh crater right where they just patched one up... They would be questioning the point of repairing something that no one cares enough about to respect in the first place. Nasty business.

So 5% went into construction and the rest into someone's pockets I assume?

[QUOTE=demoguy08;43744167]So 5% went into construction and the rest into someone's pockets I assume?[/QUOTE] Fucking military-industrial complex.

[QUOTE=Sobek-;43744143]It's astonishingly bad. And I can guarantee that half the reason they don't waste time fixing them is because they KNOW that in a week or two some other idiot jihad will blast a fresh crater right where they just patched one up... They would be questioning the point of repairing something that no one cares enough about to respect in the first place. Nasty business.[/QUOTE] Reminds me of the opposite, where the Soviets bombed railroads in Finland, but they were repaired so fast they didn't even have to delay the trains :v:

You guys have some really shitty roads, the worst we have here are the occasional pothole and places where roots are uplifting the road. Then again, I live in the best part of California in one of the US's least corrupt cities.

It costs, at absolute minimum, 3 million dollars per mile to build American interstates. So, at that price tag, it would be about 1300 miles of road in the US through completely flat rural areas. Barely enough to cover the country (Afghanistan). Granted we can halve that because Federal interstates are supposed to be (with few exceptions) four lanes and two will likely suffice for most of Afghanistan. Labor is likely to be cheaper, but the protection details necessary would be extremely costly and Afghanistan is some rough terrain, which would increase the cost by many orders of magnitude. Frankly I'm amazed it only cost four billion dollars. [editline]31st January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Dr.C;43744383]You guys have some really shitty roads, the worst we have here are the occasional pothole and places where roots are uplifting the road. Then again, I live in the best part of California in one of the US's least corrupt cities.[/QUOTE] Also California, where very little exists to damage your roads. Extreme cold annihilates roads.

[QUOTE=Dr.C;43744383]You guys have some really shitty roads, the worst we have here are the occasional pothole and places where roots are uplifting the road. Then again, I live in the best part of California in one of the US's least corrupt cities.[/QUOTE] Come to India bro, every other road even in the cities is in bad enough shape that without a good suspension system like in our car, you get your bones rattled about like dice in a cup even in short distance trips. The worst is when the rainy season hits, for then the roads melt like cheap paper screens. And they never seem to be repaired unless a major political rally is going to take place there. edit: [img]http://www.boydom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BadIndianRoads.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Dysgalt;43743090]That looks like Cleveland, I was up there for a few weeks and every fucking road looked like that.[/QUOTE] hey...that's an accurate stereotype... but that really depends on which side of Cleveland you are talking about, its mostly the west side that has these shitty roads kinda sad the afghans can't even fix the roads that are there, but fucking carbombs dont help and then you also have the locals who drive like Indians which also contributes to the problem

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJCObmm66Y0[/media]

[QUOTE=n0cturni;43746225][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJCObmm66Y0[/media][/QUOTE] I want to bike on that shit

[QUOTE=Explosions;43741570]So it's basically like U.S. roads.[/QUOTE] Where? Definitely not where I live in California.

Look on the bright side guys, your flat roads might be crapping out year from year, but at least you won't have to deal with shit: [IMG]http://dubrovacki.hr/datastore/imagestore/original/1287993780odron_stupica5_251010.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;43742215]At least they have the justification that their roads are blown up. My municipality spent the years road budget on blacktopping the mayors private road :([/QUOTE] And that's legal, because..?

Pfft guys get on my level, this is the road I take in the city! [img_thumb]http://freeaussiestock.com/free/Northern_Territory/dirt_road.jpg[/img_thumb] Actually our roads are pretty alright in Aus.