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PUBLIC WORKS His Majesty, followed by the Minister of Public Works, on an inspection tour at the Salang Pass During the fourth year of the Plan the Ministry of Public Works has been able to complete a number of projects and has been working on a number of other projects which will soon be completed. The Jalalabad-Torkham highway which is 130 kilometres long, has been laid and is now ready for asphalting. The Kabul-Matak highway, which is 67 kilometres long, is also ready for asphalting. The Kizil-Kala-Doshi highway, which is 235 kilometres long, has been completed. The Alchin bridge on the River Kunduz has been built under a contract with the Soviet Techno-Export Company. This bridge is 120 metres long and 8.90 metres wide. It has been constructed of steel and concrete and will bear 60 tons. With the completion of this bridge the distance between Kunduz and Kizil Kala has been shortened by about seven hours. The Salang highway, which will be the most important route connecting the capital with the northern provinces, will be 200 kilometres shorter than the existing Shikari highway. The agreement for the construction of the Salang highway was signed between the Ministry of Public Works and the Soviet Techno-Export Company on April 18th, 1958, and it was decided that the road should be constructed in three sections: The first section connecting Doshi with Doshakh has been laid and is in the process of being asphalted. This section is between nine and 10 metres wide but the corners have a special width to avoid collisions in heavy traffic. Corners are 125 metres wide on the lowland and 60 metres wide 39