'Military Report on The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's (South Iranian) Oilfield Area' [‎17r] (42/150)

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The following are brief notes on the principal routes in the
A. I. O. C. area.
(a) Abadan to Ahvxiz. —About 80 miles. Mud surface*
The A. I. O. C. maintain only the crossings over the pipe-line.
Fair weather road only for all traffic.
Alternatively in dry weather troops can march along the
river banks the whole way, cutting across the concave bends of
the river. There are few obstacles to the movement of M. T.
or H. T. by such a route.
Delay is imposed by the ferry over the Bahmanshir river,
two miles north of Abadan. Details of this ferry are given in
Appendix IX.
(b) Basra to Ahvxiz. —About 90 miles. The route is not
very well defined, but is not difficult to follow in daylight.
Same character route as (a), but rather better surface.
Water is obtainable at Qasr-i-Sheikh, about half way.
(c) Ahvxiz to Dar-i-Khazineh. —From Mullasani there are
two alternative routes leading to Dar-i-Khazineh, (i) direct
between the Ab-i-Gargar and Ab-i-Shatait rivers, (ii) east of
the Ab-i-Gargar, via Haddam and Abgunjik. Via (i) the dis
tance is about 50 miles, via (ii) 8 miles longer. The whole route,
whether via (i) or (it) is a fair route for all transport. In the
summer, sand may cause some trouble, especially at about
20 and 32 miles from Ahwaz.
Route (i) has a better surface than (ii) and is less liable to
interruption in wet weather. At Band-i-Qir the road crosses
the Ab-i-Gargar by a ferry. At this point the river runs between
high steep banks, and the ferry is approached by cuttings which
are unmetalled, and liable to be cut up by excessive motor traffic.
The ferry boat can only take one light vehicle at a time, and is
propelled by means of a wire cable between the banks operated
by a capstan. (Details are g'ven in Appendix IX). If, in
the event of operations, it was considered necessary to construct
a new bridge, it would be advisable to place it about 4 feet above
the level of the old war-time bridge (recently demohshed), as
the approaches and greater part of the structure of the bridge
were inundated under flood conditions. The banks are com
posed of alluvial soil and excavation is, therefore, easy. In
consideration of the passage of upper river steamers, a pontoon
bridge would probably be the most suitable type.
(d) Dar-i-Khazineh to Masjid-i-Suleiman.—^ miles. First
class all-weather metalled hill road, kept in condition by the