KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian combat engineers began carving into a remote, boulder-speckled mountain pasture Sunday, establishing a new forward outpost deep in Taliban country.

Forward Operating Base (FOB) Martello, as it will be christened, is expected to be a work in progress over the next 60 days in the often dangerous Shah Wali Kot district, north of Kandahar.

Establishing a permanent presence in what, until lately, has been insurgent-rich country. It's all part of the coalition strategy of pushing into rural parts of the province, which for centuries have been tribal dominated and rarely recognized the authority of the central government.

A full company of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry along with a contingent of engineers set up camp Sunday in a dusty, desolate patch of ground, roughly the size of a baseball diamond.

"For the last little while it has been quiet and stable, which is a good thing," said Maj. Kirk Gallinger, commanding officer of A Company 1st Battalion.

"The enemy is going to have only a few choices about what to do, either confront us, or melt away."

The field, in the centre of a horseshoe of low ridges is "very suitable for defence," said Gallinger, a seasoned combat leader of 17 years.

The man in charge of turning the rough tract of ground into something habitable agreed with the military assessment, but grimaced at the engineering and logistical challenges ahead of him.

"It's a difficult site," said Capt. Francois Dore, construction supervisor at FOB Martello.

Boulders, ranging in size from soccer balls to small trucks litter the landscape and they'll have to be either moved, chipped away, or blown up.

The engineers deployed to southern Afghanistan mainly to support combat troops on individual operations, building temporary light shelters and defences.

Dore said they were not counting on taking on a major construction project, such as building an outpost from scratch.

"Now that we're building these, we're finding a lack of heavy equipment, which means we have to contract out for rental," said Dore.

"In a country like Afghanistan, contracting out for a serviceable piece of kit is quite a challenge."

Another challenge for the engineers is finding local contractors willing to work far inside Taliban country.

Supply and logistics officers managed to scrap together two bulldozers and an excavator for the project.

As well, a contract to drill a well was negotiated locally.

Even still, Dore said it will be two months before the area is up to snuff, meaning semi-permanent sleeping tents and running water for showers and toilets. In the meantime, troops will be living out of their armoured vehicles or - sleeping on the ground surrounded by razor wire.

Neither Dore, nor Gallinger could say who decided to name the base FOB Martello after the Napoleonic-era fortifications.

The round masonry structures, of which 16 were built in Canada, were popular defensive bastions throughout the British Empire in the early 19th Century. Some still survive today, including the martello-style Prince of Wales Tower in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park.

At an average 12 metres high, the towers were an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece of the day and allowed riflemen a 360 degree arc of fire.

Gallinger, who was well acquainted with the history, said there could be no more fitting name for this 21st Century military outpost.

"They provided all around defence," he said. "They were beacons of power and beacons of burgeoning Canadian power. We look forward to constructing our own."