U.S. seeks firms to refurbish 33-MW Kajaki, Dahla projects in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan 6/29/11 (PennWell) --
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeks information on firms capable of performing major rehabilitation work on two multi-purpose water projects in Afghanistan, 33-MW Kajaki Dam and Dahla Dam, an irrigation project with three small hydroelectric generators. Responses to separate requests are due July 7 and 17.
Kajaki (or Kajakai) Dam is on the Helmand River about 90 kilometers northwest of Kandahar. The project supplies hydropower, irrigation storage, and flood control. Built in the 1950s by Morrison-Knudsen, Kajaki has suffered from 30 years of neglect.
In 2008, British troops, backed by U.S., Canadian, and Australian forces, fought across Taliban-controlled territory for five days to deliver a 200-ton turbine to the project. The Chinese-made turbine is part of a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to increase the output of the Kajaki power plant.
Dahla Dam is on the Arghandab River about 34 kilometers northeast of Kandahar. The project supplies irrigation water, a small amount of hydropower, and is being considered to supply municipal water. The reservoir has lost about 30 percent of its storage capacity due to sedimentation.
In 2009, the government of Canada named a joint venture of Canadian engineering and construction group SNC-Lavalin and Canadian consulting firm Hydrosult to manage Dahla Dam rehabilitation.
The Corps' Afghanistan Engineering District-South issued sources sought notices for each project, seeking to establish lists of qualified companies that might be interested in working on the projects.
For Kajaki, the Corps seeks firms able to design, construct, inspect, install, upgrade, replace, and repair dam components to restore its functionality. The first rehabilitation program is to cover the irrigation inlet structure, house generator supply line valve, and piezometers. Responses are due July 7.
For Dahla, the Corps seeks firms able to restore storage capacity by raising the dam, saddle dikes, and spillways, and by modifying structural, hydraulic, and electro-mechanical features. Responses are due July 17.
Sources sought notices may be obtained from the Federal Business Opportunities Internet site, www.fbo.gov, by entering Solicitation No. W5J9LE11SS0075 in the "Keyword/Solicitation #" box for the Kajaki project and No. W5J9LE11SS0076 for the Dahla project.
For information, contact Betty Jo Spiering, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District, Kandahar, 0003 HQ HHC ARCENT Kandahar, OEF Multi-class SSF AWCF Kandahar, APO AE, AF 09355; (1) 540-667-6447; E-mail: bettyjo.l.spiering@usace.army.mil.
So a Chinese turbine was fought through some of the worst country in the world at unimagineable cost and many lives, and now lies rusting with weeds growing through it at Kajaki. At Dahla, unknown improvements by a Canadian consortium, SNC-Lavalin (which also manufactures armaments) have resulted in a contract let by the US Army Corps of Engineers, after the Canadians got run off the site by thugs with connections to the Karzai who just got zapped in Kandahar.
This whole thing would be funny if it weren't tragic, delusional, duplicitous, wasteful, and hurtful both to Afghans and Canadians.
