VZCZCXRO1428
PP RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #5778/01 3450718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110718Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4765
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0353
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3389
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3367
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 005778 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CR, S/CT, SCA/PAB, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
OSD FOR KIMMETT 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, AND POLAD 
RELEASABLE TO NATO/ISAF/AUS/NZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ELTN EAID AF
SUBJECT: PRT/QAL-E NOW: SPANISH ROAD CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 
 
REF: KABUL 5666 
 
THIS CABLE SUPERCEDES KABUL 5667 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  The Spanish Agency for International 
Cooperation (AECI) is working on a road between the 
provincial capital, Qal-e Now, and the Sabsak Pass, on the 
border between Herat and Badghis Provinces.  The Spaniards 
plan to complete work on the first 30 kilometers by the end 
of the year and hope to complete the project in 2007.  This 
road will greatly facilitate vital commerce and travel 
between Qal-e Now and Herat.  In spite of earlier speculation 
linking the Spanish project to planning for the National Ring 
Road, the road they are constructing will remain a secondary, 
unpaved road, and will not/not be a part of the National Ring 
Road.  The GOA is satisfied with this arrangement, in light 
of recent news that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has 
pledged up to $100 million for construction of that 
north-west National Ring Road segment, which is now projected 
along a separate alignment well to the north of Qal-e Now. 
This new ADB pledge is significant because it resolves the 
funding issue for the last, unassigned portion of the 
National Ring Road, thus fulfilling a major U.S. strategic 
objective.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) With no good roads to adjacent provinces, Qal-e Now 
has suffered relative economic isolation.  Travel between 
Qal-e Now and Herat, a distance of 150 kilometers, currently 
takes between six and 10 hours depending on weather 
conditions.  When the Spanish PRT was established in May 
2005, the AECI identified an improved road linking Herat and 
Qal-e Now as a prerequisite to provincial development. 
Spanish engineers designed a 58 kilometer road from Qal-e Now 
to the Sabsak Pass on and adjacent to the existing dirt road. 
 
 
¶3. (U) The new road starts at the AECI-constructed bridge 
connecting Qal-e Now to its new airstrip (reftel) and 
continues southward toward Herat.  The first two phases of 
the road are relatively flat, but the final phase will 
require the construction of a route across the 2,500 
meter-high Sabsak pass.  The road follows a seasonal river 
bed and passes through several villages and small 
communities.  Expansion of the dirt road to a seven 
meter-wide gravel road with a one-foot layer of sub-base, two 
meters of improved shoulder, proper embankments, and drainage 
culverts has required AECI to work closely with locals to 
compensate those who lose property because of the expansion. 
 
¶4. (U) Flooding and a lack of data on historic rainfall and 
runoff patterns is a key problem faced by Spanish 
engineers.  The head of the project thinks "it is impossible 
to know how high to build a bridge if you simply 
don't know how high the seasonal flood waters rise."  To 
solve this problem the Spanish have opted to construct a 
series of "bridge-fords" designed to withstand floodwaters by 
allowing the water to pass over the bridge without 
damaging the structure. 
 
¶5. (U) The majority of the 56 kilometers will be gravel, but 
AECI is considering cementing the upper parts of the 
road in the Sabsak Pass where weather conditions would 
quickly deteriorate a road made of compacted materials or 
asphalt.  Local government and citizens alike often voice the 
hope that the Spanish will someday pave the entire 
road, but AECI has no plans to construct asphalt roads in the 
province.  According to AECI head Pablo Yuste, the decision 
not to pave the road was taken for both economic and 
developmental reasons.  He explained that not only was the 
cost of paving the road prohibitive, but the eventual cost of 
repairing the road would also limit the province's ability to 
maintaining the vital trade route.  (CFC-A Note: Paving would 
decrease the risk of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). 
While not currently a problem in this area, this could become 
more important should the insurgency move into the western 
 
KABUL 00005778  002 OF 002 
 
 
provinces.  End Note.).  AECI plans to donate machinery 
currently being used to construct the airport to the 
provincial government.  These machines will enable it not 
only to maintain the new road but construct additional roads 
with little or no outside assistance. 
 
¶6. COMMENT: (SBU) There has been some confusion regarding how 
the Spanish road fits into the GOA's plans for developing a 
nation-wide road network.  At one point Deputy Minister of 
Public Works, Dr. Mohammed Wali Rasooli, informed AECI that 
their road should become part of the Ring Road project and 
asked them to build the road according to Ring Road 
specifications.  At a later date, Dr. Rasooli decided that 
the Ring Road would pass well north of Qal-e Now and asked 
AECI to downgrade its project and provide the excess funding 
to Rasooli's ministry.  Currently AECI, which considers this 
to be a secondary road with an alignment that is not 
conducive to the Ring Road standards, is continuing with its 
original construction plans while the GOA has recorded a 
major success in lining up a new funding pledge from the 
Asian Development Bank to build the projected National Ring 
Road segment along a new alignment considerably to the north 
of Qal-e Now. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The first 30 kilometers of the road should be 
completed on schedule before the end of the year, and AECI 
hopes to complete the entire project in 2007. (CFC-A Comment: 
This is an ambitious schedule considering design, survey, and 
construction requirements. End Comment.).  When completed, 
the road will greatly reduce travel time to Herat, especially 
during winter months.  It is hard to over-state the 
importance of a secure and reliable transportation route to 
the future development of what has been one of Afghanistan's 
most remote and underdeveloped 
provinces.  END COMMENT. 
NEUMANN