Some Issues for Construction and Maintenance of Roads in Afghanistan

Poor construction and maintenance of afghan roads is key component of poverty in Afghanistan, Government to focus on need to develop some cost effective schemes for development of road in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, there are about 40,000 villages located in different terrain conditions (e.g. plain, hilly and mountainous regions, deserts, etc.). The climate conditions also vary from place to place to an extent. Social, economic and educational developments of these villages greatly depend on accessibility. A large number of villages located rural area , Afghanistan are isolated from all-weather roads hence required a great care and huge investment while construction and maintenance. so there is an urgent need to construct and maintain the Afghan roads in an optimal manner. The employment opportunities and necessities like, health, education, and social welfare cannot reach rural masses without a systematic and coordinated road network. Now, the realization has set in for the development of rural areas, development of a proper road network and connectivity of rural areas must be a priority. However, there are various issues like choice of appropriate type of pavement, economical construction of pavements depending upon traffic and sub grade soil requirements, quality assurance during construction and timely and effective maintenance during operation period of Afghan road, it should be taken under consideration. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop innovative strategies for construction and maintenance of roads network in Afghanistan. Road network provides the arterial network to facilitate trade, transport, social integration and economic development. It facilitates specialization, extension of markets and exploitation of economies of scale. It is used for the smooth conveyance of both people and goods. The main objective of this study is to identify the issues in construction and maintenance of roads in Afghanistan. The roads have thus to be managed within the available limited resources, in an optimal manner, by developing innovative strategies. It is observed that condition of pavement are not being evaluated by various Afghan road agencies and maintenance is being carried out without evaluating conditions of existing pavement scientifically. Therefore, an attempt will be made in this study to identify issues in maintenance of pavement in a simple and cost effective manner so that timely and effective maintenance can be carried out. Thus, it is expected that this study will be useful for construction and maintenance of road network in Afghanistan.