BEIJING, Apr. 9 -- Recently, the 24th Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) received the order of repairing Buka Road from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Located in South Kivu of the DRC, the Buka Road is an arterial road connecting Bukavu and Kavumu. Affected by rainwater soaking and erosion, the drainage pipes in some sections of the road were blocked, and the roadbeds collapsed due to landslides. The road became muddy and uneven, which seriously affected vehicle traffic.
The Chinese peacekeepers adopted a combination of manual and mechanical operations and carried out road repairs in groups and sections. They operated loaders and excavators to clean up the silt and debris in the landslide section. In sections where the roadbed collapsed and the surface was filled with potholes, they coordinated to transport sand and gravel from the nearby gravel pit, and used graders and rollers to level and compact the road layer by layer.
During the rainy season, the weather is complex and changeable in the DRC, and the heavy traffic volume in the mission area all brought great difficulties to the construction mission. Over one hundred Chinese peacekeepers worked arduously for 21 days and completed the repair task with high standards.
They have totally repaired 7.1 kilometers of roads, filled more than 350 potholes, cleared two landslides, dredged 59 culverts and dug 5.9 kilometers of drainage ditches. Their high-quality and efficient work has won a good reputation in the mission area, and they have been highly acclaimed by the MONUSCO and local community.
Li Haojie, commander of the 24th Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to DRC, said that the mission has a tight schedule and high requirements. It was a task with the largest amount of manual work, the largest number of equipment and machinery dispatched and the most complex construction environment since their deployment.
