Asef Alemyar directs his croaky voice into the telephone. The flu has the engineer in its grip – precisely in the week that he is visiting Switzerland with the purpose of informing about the construction progress in Bamiyan and talking to architects about the advancement of the project. Last Thursday Alemyar flew back to Afghanistan.

Reason for the urgency lies in the short summer in central Afghanistan. Very soon, perhaps already mid-September, winter will arrive in the high valleys; Bamiyan lies at an altitude of 2,500 metres. Roads and passes will be inaccessible and temperatures will sink to well below zero. Work on the construction site of the "House of Science", a meeting centre for the University of Bamiyan, will come to a standstill until spring. And spring arrives late in these parts. The beginning of April is the earliest date that can be envisaged for workers to take up their tools again. In the short time that remains Alemyar wants to get the walls of the ground floor and its ceiling finished. This autumn, the high-insulating windows are supposed to be transported from Switzerland to Bamiyan. There they will pass the winter - installed or not - depending on the weather.

Wet spring delayed construction

The weather has thwarted the building supervisor right from the start. The past winter was exceptionally long, so the first turning of the sod did not take place until the end of April, says Alemyar, who holds both Afghan and Swiss citizenship. By mid-June it had rained almost continuously for two months, which delayed work even more, and worse still, the rain had washed away a major supply route for the Bamiyan valley. Construction problems have also caused Alemyar plenty of trouble. On the spot where the foundation was to be placed, workers discovered underground storerooms at a depth of 2.8 metres, belonging to semi-nomadic people who lived in the area. These storerooms first had to be filled with concrete in order to secure the foundation. Alemyar: "As an expert I can't build on sandy ground". However, the foundation for the "House of Science" is now laid. A frost bar has been installed and pipes have been laid down.

The purchase of building material is also a difficult undertaking, because Alemyar cannot use the region's traditional clay bricks for the "House of Science". "Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the region. Therefore, the construction has to be earthquake-resistant, so we are using concrete," he says. This has its disadvantages. Components, such as cement or reinforcement bars, have to be brought from Pakistan or Iran, at best from Kabul, and this makes them as expensive as they are in Switzerland. The condition of the road linking Kabul and Bamiyan is so bad that it takes lorries two or three days to overcome the 230 kilometres between the two places. "We are anxious every time, whether an expected supply will arrive, because serious accidents are a daily occurrence on this route", explains Alemyar.

A motor-driven concrete vibrator is one of the few technical tools on the construction site in Bamiyan. (Picture: A. Alemyar) large

On the construction site itself, there is no crane, no dumper, no cement mixer. "All the machines that are standard equipment on a construction site in Switzerland don't exist in the Bamiyan valley," explains the engineer, who also supervises other constructions in Afghanistan. Nobody is very interested in building anything here. This means that there is no lack of builders. Over 80 are working on the ETH project, mixing concrete, transporting heavy loads, laying out the reinforcement bars. A tonne of concrete converts into 16 wheelbarrow loads, filled by hand, divided and distributed.

Architects are pleased

It took them some time to adapt to the situation in Bamiyan, say the three young architects Wolfgang Rossbauer, Ivica Brnic and Florian Graf. Nevertheless, in view of the difficulties, they were "more or less satisfied"–as is construction supervisor Alemyar–with the progress that had so far been made on the project. It was, however, difficult to have to accept not having full control over the building process. On the other hand, they were glad that they had someone to supervise the building who not only had the work carried out in their interests, but who also understood the national culture. "It's the best solution for everyone. We would probably never really be able to understand the cultural contrasts," they admit.

For the three ETH graduates, the "House of Science" has priority even though they are currently busy with completing their studies and working. "Flexibility" is their motto. They will probably be able to see their "castle in the air" in Bamiyan for themselves sometime next year. No concrete plans have been made yet though, except that their visit should coincide with Asef Alemyar's presence at the site.