Military Diplomacy

China's Peacekeeping Engineer Detachment in South Sudan Earns Commendation for Completing Road Repair Mission

我赴南苏丹维和工兵分队完成道路修复任务获赞誉

PLA Daily (解放军报) 13 June 2026

Summary

China's 16th Peacekeeping Engineer Detachment in South Sudan (Wau) completed road leveling and repair along the Airport–Sukh Hajar Bridge corridor, addressing asphalt surface damage and laterite base subsidence caused by rainfall erosion and heavy vehicle compaction, and received commendation from UNMISS and the local Wau government. The article documents the detachment's technical execution—layered compaction on laterite sections and bonded backfill on asphalt sections—providing a baseline record of how PLA engineer units frame and publicize civil-infrastructure work under UN mission mandates. Its value is as a unit-level operational record and a data point in the PLA's consistent pattern of using peacekeeping engineer missions to demonstrate technical competence and generate goodwill narratives for both domestic and international audiences.

Translation

China's Peacekeeping Engineer Detachment in South Sudan Earns Commendation for Completing Road Repair Mission

Detachment officers and soldiers conduct road drainage clearing operations. Photo by Xiong Ran

PLA Daily report by special correspondent Wang Yi: Recently, China's 16th Peacekeeping Engineer Detachment to South Sudan (Wau) successfully completed the road leveling and repair mission along the "Airport–Sukh Hajar Bridge" corridor in Wau, opening a safe and unobstructed "people's convenience road" (便民路) for local residents, and received high commendation from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the local government.

The "Airport–Sukh Hajar Bridge" corridor in Wau consists of both asphalt road and laterite road sections. Due to prolonged erosion from rainfall and compaction by heavy vehicles, the asphalt surface had sustained severe damage, while the laterite road base had subsided into potholes at multiple points, seriously affecting local residents' daily travel and the transport of goods.

Upon receiving the mission, the detachment immediately assembled technical backbone personnel to form a task-force group, conducted on-site surveys, and further refined the construction plan based on conditions in the mission area. Targeting the two different road conditions—laterite and asphalt—the detachment applied differentiated measures and precision construction.

On the laterite sections, the detachment employed a method of layered filling, compaction, and reinforcement. On the asphalt sections, where problems such as fragmented road surfaces and collapsed road bases were pronounced, directly laying and compacting laterite fill would have been highly prone to causing separation between the new and old surface layers, water seepage through gaps, and later settlement and cracking. To address this, the detachment re-demarcated the road surface boundaries, removed loose and collapsed road base material, strictly controlled fill slope gradients and compaction levels, and ensured that the backfilled laterite bonded tightly with the existing asphalt road, effectively improving the road's load-bearing capacity and travel stability.

Original Chinese

我赴南苏丹维和工兵分队完成道路修复任务获赞誉分队官兵进行道路清淤。熊燃摄解放军报讯特约记者王轶报道：近日，中国第16批赴南苏丹（瓦乌）维和工兵分队圆满完成瓦乌市“机场—苏克哈杰尔桥”一线道路平整修复任务，为当地民众打通了一条安全畅通的“便民路”，受到联合国南苏丹特派团和当地政府高度赞誉。瓦乌市“机场—苏克哈杰尔桥”一线道路由柏油路和红土路组成。受长期雨水冲刷和重型车辆碾压，柏油路面损毁严重，红土路基多处坑洼下陷，严重影响当地民众日常出行和物资运输。受领任务后，分队第一时间抽组技术骨干成立攻坚小组，开展实地勘察，并结合任务区情况，进一步完善施工方案。针对红土、柏油两种不同路况，分队分类施策、精准施工。在红土路段，分队采取分层填筑、压实加固的方式。在柏油路段，因多处路面碎裂、路基塌陷等问题突出，若直接铺填红土碾压，极易出现新旧面层分离、缝隙渗水及后期沉降开裂等情况。为此，分队重新标定路面边界，铲除松散、塌陷的路基，严控填筑坡度与压实度，确保回填的红土与原有柏油路紧密贴合，有效提升了道路承载能力和通行稳定性。