Image Gallery 2009
17 February 2009
Building the first bridge
Royal Australian Engineers from Australia’s 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1) deployed with MRTF-1's Combat Team to Zabol Province to replace two vital bridges.
The request for assistance came from the International Security Assistance Force after the bridges were destroyed by insurgents.
The engineers were tasked with constructing two steel truss bridges, the first over a collapsed concrete bridge, north of the provincial border.
Working around-the-clock for three days, through freezing temperatures and rain, the engineers completed the bridge ahead of schedule, before moving further north to their second bridge mission.
| 20081213ara8502859_0397 An Australian Army armoured front end loader fills Hesco walls, which will provide a protective road block for soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, as they rebuild the first of two damaged bridges on Afghanistan's Highway One. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0012 Sapper Zachary Hurst (left) and Sapper Chris Mitchell tighten internal bracing on the steel truss bridge the Australian engineers are constructing in Zabol Province, Southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0068 Sapper Zachary Hurst (left) and Sapper Sam Barber secure a side panel on the bridge Australian engineers were tasked to build in Zabol province, Southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0072 Sapper Garret Mazurek, from the Royal Australian Engineers, moves a side panel into position as he and his fellow 'sappers' replace a bridge on Afghanistan's main supply route. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0100 A crane helps move the heavy metal sections, as Engineers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force construct a new metal truss bridge to cross the gap created by the destruction of a previous bridge by insurgents in Afghanistan's Zabol Province. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0153 Sapper Justin Bayly positions a new bridge panel, in preparation for its connection to the bridge he and his fellow 'sappers' are building Southern Afghanistan. Sapper Bayly is a member of 2 Troop, 1st Field Squadron – the engineer element of Australia's 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). 1st Field Squadron is drawn from the Darwin based 1st Combat Engineer Regiment. |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0183 Sapper Thomas O'Conner manoeuvres a transom beam into position as Australian engineers construct a new steel bridge in Zabol Province, Southern Afghanistan. In the background, Corporal Bryan Carr and Captain James Scott discuss the next phase of the build. The soldiers and officers are serving in Afghanistan with the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0286 With an Australian Bushmaster vehicle providing protection, soldiers from the Royal Australian Engineers work to assemble the first of two bridges they have been tasked to provide in Southern Afghanistan. The engineers are from 1st Field Sqadron, the engineering component of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). The Squadron members are from the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Darwin. |
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| 20081214ara8502859_0300 Australian Army Engineers manipulate a 300kg bridge section into place in Zabol Province, Southern Afghanistan. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081215ara8502859_0065 Officer in Charge of the bridge construction project, Captain James Scott, climbs the ruins of the destroyed bridge his soldiers are replacing. The new steel bridge is constructed on the roadway approaching the destroyed crossing and is then rolled into position before being 'decked' and completed. The Engineers are members of the Australian 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). |
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| 20081215ara8502859_0377 Sapper Aaron Rankin works with a smile as he repositions a steel support brace for a bridge he and his fellow Australian Combat Engineers are constructing in southern Afghanistan. Sapper Rankin, from Darwin's 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, is serving in Afghanistan as a member of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force. |
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| 20081215ara8502859_0727 Lance Corporal Dale Overend of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers welds steel support beams, as Australian soldiers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1) work into the bitter Afghan night. (Date taken: 12 December 2008) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20081216ara8502859_0005 A frigid Afghan morning dawns for the troops of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). The soldiers have moved from their base in Uruzgan Province to replace two bridge destroyed in the neighbouring Zabol region. |
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| 20081216ara8502859_0025 With the destroyed bridge sitting forlornly below, an armoured Australian Mack truck crosses the new bridge on Afghanistan's Highway 1. The steel truss bridge was the work of engineers from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). |
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| 20081216ara8502859_0026 An armoured Australian supply truck crosses the newly completed bridge in Zabol Province, Southern Afghanistan. The replacement bridge was the work of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1). With their first bridge complete, the Australian Forces prepare to move to their second reconstruction task. |
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