Documenting Lessons Learned in Afghanistan Concerning Design and Construction Challenges

Abstract : The U.S. military including civilian engineering and construction personnel have deployed and redeployed since the reconstruction effort began in Afghanistan. Issues with discontinuity of information occur as staff departs and new staff is assigned to the job. A significant amount of knowledge and experience accumulates and this wealth of information must be gathered for in-theater best practices. Documentations of lessons learned and experiences can be disseminated to provide insight for incoming staff, used to implement in planning processes for projects, and to avoid or minimize unintended consequences. Experiences and lessons learned from construction projects in Afghanistan were collected from professionals, contractors, and donors, providing insight and knowledge of programming and contracting awards, planning and site assessments, designing and construction, selecting materials, ensuring quality control and quality assurance, training and education, and doing maintenance on and operation of infrastructure. The data were summarized qualitatively and analyzed quantitatively into phrases to reflect the description of each input for problems and solutions using frequency analysis, sector diagrams, and causal maps. The responses conveyed stories telling how problems and solutions are linked. A specific solution may not only work for the original target problem but may have a secondary positive impact on another problem in the chain of issues. The data emphasized security problems during construction (i.e., stealing materials), and delays caused by security and attacks during design and construction phases. Another major problem was not accounting climatic (weather) conditions that affected design and construction. The Afghan engineers and practitioners have echoed similar concerns. In addition, the local nationals (LNs) raised the issue that there currently are no standards and criteria for imported materials, which directly affect the quality of materials being u