OVERVIEW

The Gardez-Khost National Highway is a 101.2-kilometer road linking eastern Afghanistan with the Ghulam Khan Highway in Pakistan. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Gardez-to-Khost National Highway (G-K Highway) project included the creation of an all-weather national highway by building bridges, causeways, and drainage structures and asphalting pavement to international standards. The G-K Highway runs through some of Afghanistan’s most difficult and remote and insecure terrain. As a result, the existing pathways were often impassable during floods or landslides. The completed highway was designed to provide economic and security benefits to the populations of Paktia and Khost provinces.

The Gardez-Khost road begins in central Gardez, crosses the Khost River valley and reaches Khost city, climbing as high as 2,900 meters above sea level along the way. Initially, the highway was unimproved in some stretches and partially graveled or paved elsewhere. Constant use by overloaded trucks and decades of poor maintenance had left the roadway extensively damaged. Once connected to Ghulam Khan Border in Pakistan, the road should be able to handle 7,000 vehicles per day. All construction work was completed in December 2015.

ACTIVITIES

• Provided road maintenance along the 25 kilometers of the highway to repair defects and damage during warranty period

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Completed all 101.2 kilometers of road
• Created 2,000 local construction jobs
• Improvements reduced average travel time from Gardez to Khost by 2.5 hours for passenger vehicles and 3.5 hours for trucks
• Increased traffic to approximately 3,500 vehicles per day.