BACK IN BUSINESS Civic public works employees returned to work in Baghdad on Thursday. Repairing traffic signs and signals was at the top of the work order.

A traffic light is a small thing–usually obeyed, often cursed and cheerfully violated–until it quits working. Then people anxiously look forward to seeing it repaired.

Huge numbers of Baghdad’s traffic signals have been out of service for more than a month. Their absence has contributed to traffic snarls and has become one more irritant in a life already made difficult by fuel shortages, intermittent electricity, uncollected garbage and other postwar dysfunctions.

But on May 22, the city’s public works employees started to repair broken traffic signals and street signs, resume suspended projects and tackle the myriad small jobs that together will help to restore a sense that life could soon be back to normal. That they are returning to work without pay is a testament to their sense of duty and their loyalty to their city.

At a traffic-choked intersection in Baghdad’s Rusafa municipality, one worker on a ladder picked up the hanging guts of a signal light, fitted it back into place, pounded it and took direction from the traffic engineer below until it was fully seated. A green arrow flashed where none had been moments before. Iman Darab, the engineer, says there are 103 signals in her municipality. She doesn’t know how this one was damaged, but repairing it was a simple job of reassembling the light, since the controller is still working.

Between 50 and 60 workers–about 30% of the roster–showed up for the first day of street work, says Mujahid Sharif, director-general for projects in the mayor’s office. Besides the benefit of getting needed work done, the crews serve as an advertisement to get the rest of the force back on the job. "At least it is a good start," he says.

His office has set four priorities for selecting the projects to be done. First are those required for safety that were suspended by the war. Second are traffic lights, guardrails and other safety-related works. Third are projects with lower safety exposure that were halted by the war. Fourth are projects from the 2003 plan. Today’s projects included two curb projects, the traffic signal, a guardrail and five street sign repairs. On Sunday, crews are scheduled to start heavy road construction on 8 km of highways, he says with some satisfaction.

SAFETY Restoring highway guardrails battered by raging tanks and warfare sends a signal that civilian values are returning.

The Army Corps of Engineers is supporting this work through the Baghdad-based main forward engineer support team (FEST Main) of its South Atlantic Division, Atlanta, Ga. An official of the Organization for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, the U.S. coordinating body for reconstruction of Iraq, says the original mission of the FEST was to provide quality assurance on work to be done by Bechtel National Inc. under its contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). But security conditions in Baghdad have prevented Bechtel from beginning work, so the FEST currently is assisting Maj. Gen. Carl Strock in his role as interim administrator for the city. In that capacity, FEST engineers are working with Baghdad city administrative heads in fields as diverse as transportation and communication, justice, health, housing and construction and irrigation, among others. They provide advice and guidance, coordinate support from U.S. resources for the Iraqis’ needs, evaluate the condition of government buildings and in many other ways serve the overall ORHA mission of creating the conditions for a stable new national government.

A SENSE OF ORDER Mending the ragged tears of war, Baghdad city workers re-set curbing crushed in battle. (photo above and left)

At a streetside location in another section of the city, about 15 men wrestled stone posts into alignment along the margin of a sidewalk. A 90-m x 4-m section of sidewalk was torn out here to create parking space out of the traffic lanes, but work was halted by the war. On the Mohammed al Kasim Highway, another small crew is rebuilding a tank-damaged guardrail on the median divider. For a highway that has carried tanks, this one shows little sign of wear. Mujahid says it was paved three months before the war with 25 cm of concrete topped with 15 cm of asphalt.

An ORHA spokeswoman says that ORHA head Jay Garner yesterday ordered resumption of salary payment to civil servants starting Saturday, May 24, using funds from frozen Iraqi assets. Back pay will be added in stages with the goal of being completely caught up by the end of June.

(Photos by Thomas F. Armistead for ENR)

ENR Associate Editor Thomas F. Armistead is in the Mideast region with elements of Army Corps of Engineers and private contractors.