| BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005 — Due to the desert-like climate and high salinity of water in southern Iraq, two million residents of Basrah have long relied upon the 240-kilometer-long Sweet Water Canal to supply their domestic water for cleaning, cooking, bathing and washing. Further highlighting the canal's importance is the fact that although local residents typically drink bottled water, once boiled, the water from the Sweet Water Canal is suitable for drinking.
"From signature of contract to delivery of the vehicles was four days. [The Iraqi company] fulfilled the contract to the last detail"
Michael Robson, Project and Contracting Office |
Now, two Project and Contracting Office construction and non-construction projects have ensured the canal's quality and reliability for many years and provided local Iraqis the tools necessary to maintain this vital source.
The Sweet Water Canal, originally constructed in the 1990s, is a partially-concrete-and-earth-lined channel built through the marshes of southern Iraq, to compensate for the Euphrates River's salinity level throughout the region. Experts discovered that the soil originally chosen to line the canal in the Basrah region was inappropriate.
According to a Project and Contracting Office Project Manager of Water Resources, the lack of maintenance by the former regime and the use of a gypsum-rich soil, coupled with the canal's poor design and construction, resulted in canal breeches and the canal lining swelling, particularly in a 20-kilometer stretch through Basrah Governate.
"The situation was further complicated when, after the toppling of Hussein's regime, looters stole the overhead electrical lines, poles and two mobile substations, thereby resulting in sporadic shutting-down of the canal's generators," said the manager.
Immediately after the war, several organizations, including Bechtel, became involved in the project to repair the canal. Officials awarded a contract to design/build contractor, Washington International, Black and Veech. The company began daily patrols to inspect and identify canal breeches and performed soil investigations for the right and left embankments of the canal. |
