Adding to the workload is the outdated infrastructure. "The infrastructure was in bad, bad, shape regardless of any damage" from the war, says Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, chief of engineers who just returned from a week-long visit to Iraq. Many electrical, sewerage and water facilities he saw there "were all past their expected lifespan," Flowers says. He notes that much of the technology in use is from the 1960s and 1970s.

WHIRLWIND Flowers (center) says that Iraqis have the capabilities to help rebuild their nation. (Photo by Thomas F. Armistead for ENR)

Flowers says that coalition forces did minimal damage to municipal facilities and bridges during the fighting. "What hurt us was the looting following the fighting," particularly damage to the power grid, he explains.

According to Flowers, the reconstruction efforts are focusing on two areas. Forces will first take existing systems and fix them as quickly as possible to provide vital services. They then will perform more permanent improvements to the infrastructure, a job Flowers says will be started by the U.S. but finished by the Iraqis. "I have a great deal of optimism that the Iraqis will be able to take this over from an engineering and [project management standpoint] in fairly quick order," he says. "The Iraqis have tremendous capability–the professionalism of their engineers and scientists. The work ethic already here can really be leveraged to make the country come together," Flowers says.

The Corps of Engineers also is embarking on a new role, partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development to serve as its "owners representative" for the $680-billion capital construction contract USAID awarded to Bechtel National Inc., San Francisco, in April. USAID initially will pay the Corps $3 million to provide project management and engineering staff to perform oversight, inspections and other duties, with an estimated completion date in December 2004, says a USAID spokeswoman.

Some preliminary work is going well. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp., Oak Brook, Ill., already has dredged 1 million cu yd of spoil from the seaport at Umm Qasr, the main port for delivery of food, equipment and other humanitarian relief. Bechtel officials estimate that about 6-7 million cu yd will have to be dredged under the subcontract. Bechtel also recently awarded a subcontract to provide master mechanical work at Umm Qasr to Al-Mullah Bros., a Kuwaiti contractor.

In response to requests from the community, USAID will spend $41,000 to provide a new pre-fabricated administration building for the Umm Qasr town council. "By providing greater access to information and an environment for working together, USAID is supporting the transition to self-governance in Iraq," says Michael Marx, USAID's team leader for its Disaster Assistance Response Team.

FULL SPEED Dredging at Umm Qasr already has moved 1 million cu yd of spoil. (Photo courtesy of Bechtel)

Advances also are being made in repairing highway infrastructure. On May 30, Bechtel awarded its first land transportation subcontract to Al-Bunnia Trading Co., a 93-year-old Baghdad-based construction firm, to design and construct a 1.5-km bridge bypass on Highway 10 near where the Al Mat Bridge was hit in an aerial strike, leaving just one lane in place. The highway is located about 300 km west of Baghdad. The bypass is expected to take two to three weeks to complete. When finished, reconstruction work on the bridge will begin, which is expected to be a three- to six-month process. Al-Bunnia will provide field engineering services and construct the bypass. "This is what we came over to do," says Clifford G. Mumm, Bechtel's program director. "We're committed to developing a work program that maximizes use of Iraqi contractors and workers."

Security and communications continue to be a challenge for reconstruction crews. Workers often need military escorts to protect them, which sometimes can take a few days to arrange and be canceled at the last minute. "This environment is like no other," notes Bechtel spokesman Howard N. Menaker.

Iraq's telecommunications system before the war was considered decrepit and damage during the war put it largely out of service. Most reconstruction officials are relying on satellite phones.

The Dept. of Defense on May 19 awarded MCI, Ashburn, Va., a contract to provide cellular telephone services in Baghdad as part of a short-term communiciatons plan. MCI will build a network of 12 to 19 towers to serve 5,000 to 10,000 mobile phones for military and reconstruction officials. An MCI spokeswoman says the company is "on schedule for a June implementation." MCI established a similar system for DOD in Afghanistan. The contract also includes an arrangement with Motorola Corp., Schaumburg, Ill., to establish radio communications for security, a deal said to be worth up to $45 million.

Iraq's petroleum industry also is a repair priority. "Our primary goal in life is to assist the ministry [of oil] in getting back to a functioning condition," says Philip Carroll, head of DOD's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance effort to revive the oil industry. He says that "both technical and commercial experts are back at work and applying themselves diligently to meeting the fuel needs of the Iraqi people." The critical shortage of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas continues to be a headache. "We are gaining [on the problem] in terms of import volumes, but it's not immediately reflected at the gas pumps or [LPG] distribution points," Carroll says. Iraqi operators are increasing refinery throughputs and are starting up gas-processing plants in Kirkuk and Basra.

ORHA also is being overhauled. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, the civilian in charge of reconstruction, is transforming it into the Coalition Provisional Authority, a move aimed at improving management and coordination.

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy)

Other help in nation-building is on its way. Walker Lee Evey, the former Pentagon Renovation program manager who oversaw rebuilding after 9/11, is heading to Iraq as a senior advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction. It is "essential that all of us, who have an opportunity to do so, undertake to do whatever we can to assist in the establishment of a stable and productive government in that country," says Evey. He expects to be there 90 to 120 days.

USAID also has asked about a dozen firms to respond to a "limited request" for proposals for economic governance. The firms will be asked to provide methods to implement financial policy, including addressing competitiveness issues, credit activities and other steps needed to revitalize the economy. Another request will focus on agriculture reconstruction and development.

Despite the continued wait for certain services, many Iraqis welcomed the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. "We welcome anyone who has good faith," says Dahir Abdul-Muhsin, an interpreter for the Iraqi oil ministry. "We now believe the Americans have a good faith to reconstruct our country."