Automotive Infrastructure
Dan Eisenhardt
Background
The first roads date back to about 4,000 B.C. with stone-paved and timber streets found in modern-day Iraq and England, respectively. The Romans were also famous road builders. According to a CREDO Reference article on roads, “In the fourth century A.D., one contemporary source claimed that 372 main roads covering 53,638 miles united the Roman Empire. Italy, naturally, was covered by the most extensive network of roads.”[1] The first efficient modern-day road builder was John Metcalf, a Scottish man who, interestingly enough, while blind built between 180-190 miles of road in England in the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s. The secret to Metcalf’s roads and what made them better than their earlier counterparts was his use of sharply-edged stone chips that fit tightly between larger stones, making for a smooth road surface. The first use of asphalt came soon after. According to an About.com article on the history of roads, “The first road use of asphalt occurred in 1824, when asphalt blocks were placed on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.”[2] The first occurrence of modern-day asphalt road construction occurred later on in the 19th century. According to the previous About.com article, “Modern road asphalt was the work of Belgian immigrant Edward de Smedt at Columbia University in New York City. By 1872, de Smedt had engineered a modern, ‘well-grade,’ maximum-density asphalt. The first uses of this road asphalt were in Battery Park and on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1872 and on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., in 1877.”[3]
Turning Point
The turning point of automotive infrastructure was surely the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, or just the IHS for short. Known as the “greatest public works project in history”, it was so important that, according to the Federal Highway Administration website, “In April 1961, President Kennedy issued a proclamation declaring that the week of May 21-27 would be National Highway Week. It was an opportunity for Federal and State Highway officials, and the Nation’s Governors, to remind the public of the ‘vital role of highway transportation in our way of life’.”[4] According to The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy by Richardson Dilworth, “Infrastructural development was a classic developmental policy, meaning that it was an important tool that cities used to attract labor and capital”[5], so it makes sense that the IHS served as a surplus of jobs for returning American G.I.s who were looking for work, and helped the country avoid falling back into an economic depression.
After Harry S. Truman left office in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower revisited the nation’s lack of a unified highway system. According to previous FHWA website, “During World War II, Gen. Eisenhower saw the advantages Germany enjoyed because of the autobahn network. He also noted the enhanced mobility of the Allies when they fought their way into Germany. These experiences shaped Eisenhower's views on highways. ‘The old convoy,’ he said, ‘had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.’”[6] Quickly, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1954 was signed into law, which allocated $175 million for the purpose of building the IHS. Vice President Nixon, speaking on President Eisenhower’s behalf at a 1954 conference of state governors in Lake George, NY, explained that while the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1954 was a “good start”, a “$50 billion highway program in 10 years is a goal towards which we can – and should – look.”[7] Ultimately, the IHS was comprised of 16,600 miles of highway by 1963, and in 1992, the original system was complete. Additional construction has occurred since then, and by 2010, the IHS was comprised of 47,182 miles of highway.
Effect
The cost of construction on the IHS was estimated at $425 billion in 2006. According to The Genie in the Bottle: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957 by Richard F. Weingroff, the IHS was “the largest public works program since the Pyramids”.[8] It hasn’t gone unnoticed, either—ours is a society of automobiles, and nearly ¼ of all automobiles in the United States have been or are currently driven on the IHS. Coast-to-coast I-80, I-90, and I-10 have forever changed the face of American transportation and shipping, as well as I-95 running north to south. The system also paved the way for urbanization; with the invention of the IHS, it became easier for people to be able to work in the cities and still go home to a house or apartment in the suburban sprawl or rural areas, as well as making the commute a factor in the job search. Without the IHS, America would surely not be the economic or industrial power it is today.
[1] Foster. “Roads.” 1998
[2] Bellis. “History of Roads.” N.d.
[3] Bellis. “History of Roads.” N.d.
[4] Weingroff. “The Battle of Its Life.” 2006.
[5] Dilworth. The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy. 2005.
[6] Weingroff. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” 1996.
[7] Weingroff. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” 1996.
[8] Weingroff. “THE GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957.” 2000.
Bibliography
Bellis, Mary. “History of Roads.” about.com. n.d.
Foster, Mark. “Roads” Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. 1998.
Dilworth, Richardson. The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy. Harvard University Press. London. 2005
Weingroff, Richard. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” FHWA. Summer 1996. Weingroff, Richard. “The Battle of
Its Life.” FHWA. May-June 2006.
Weingroff, Richard. “THE GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957.” FHWA. Sep-Oct 2000.
Dan Eisenhardt
Background
The first roads date back to about 4,000 B.C. with stone-paved and timber streets found in modern-day Iraq and England, respectively. The Romans were also famous road builders. According to a CREDO Reference article on roads, “In the fourth century A.D., one contemporary source claimed that 372 main roads covering 53,638 miles united the Roman Empire. Italy, naturally, was covered by the most extensive network of roads.”[1] The first efficient modern-day road builder was John Metcalf, a Scottish man who, interestingly enough, while blind built between 180-190 miles of road in England in the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s. The secret to Metcalf’s roads and what made them better than their earlier counterparts was his use of sharply-edged stone chips that fit tightly between larger stones, making for a smooth road surface. The first use of asphalt came soon after. According to an About.com article on the history of roads, “The first road use of asphalt occurred in 1824, when asphalt blocks were placed on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.”[2] The first occurrence of modern-day asphalt road construction occurred later on in the 19th century. According to the previous About.com article, “Modern road asphalt was the work of Belgian immigrant Edward de Smedt at Columbia University in New York City. By 1872, de Smedt had engineered a modern, ‘well-grade,’ maximum-density asphalt. The first uses of this road asphalt were in Battery Park and on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1872 and on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., in 1877.”[3]
Turning Point
The turning point of automotive infrastructure was surely the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, or just the IHS for short. Known as the “greatest public works project in history”, it was so important that, according to the Federal Highway Administration website, “In April 1961, President Kennedy issued a proclamation declaring that the week of May 21-27 would be National Highway Week. It was an opportunity for Federal and State Highway officials, and the Nation’s Governors, to remind the public of the ‘vital role of highway transportation in our way of life’.”[4] According to The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy by Richardson Dilworth, “Infrastructural development was a classic developmental policy, meaning that it was an important tool that cities used to attract labor and capital”[5], so it makes sense that the IHS served as a surplus of jobs for returning American G.I.s who were looking for work, and helped the country avoid falling back into an economic depression.
After Harry S. Truman left office in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower revisited the nation’s lack of a unified highway system. According to previous FHWA website, “During World War II, Gen. Eisenhower saw the advantages Germany enjoyed because of the autobahn network. He also noted the enhanced mobility of the Allies when they fought their way into Germany. These experiences shaped Eisenhower's views on highways. ‘The old convoy,’ he said, ‘had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.’”[6] Quickly, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1954 was signed into law, which allocated $175 million for the purpose of building the IHS. Vice President Nixon, speaking on President Eisenhower’s behalf at a 1954 conference of state governors in Lake George, NY, explained that while the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1954 was a “good start”, a “$50 billion highway program in 10 years is a goal towards which we can – and should – look.”[7] Ultimately, the IHS was comprised of 16,600 miles of highway by 1963, and in 1992, the original system was complete. Additional construction has occurred since then, and by 2010, the IHS was comprised of 47,182 miles of highway.
Effect
The cost of construction on the IHS was estimated at $425 billion in 2006. According to The Genie in the Bottle: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957 by Richard F. Weingroff, the IHS was “the largest public works program since the Pyramids”.[8] It hasn’t gone unnoticed, either—ours is a society of automobiles, and nearly ¼ of all automobiles in the United States have been or are currently driven on the IHS. Coast-to-coast I-80, I-90, and I-10 have forever changed the face of American transportation and shipping, as well as I-95 running north to south. The system also paved the way for urbanization; with the invention of the IHS, it became easier for people to be able to work in the cities and still go home to a house or apartment in the suburban sprawl or rural areas, as well as making the commute a factor in the job search. Without the IHS, America would surely not be the economic or industrial power it is today.
[1] Foster. “Roads.” 1998
[2] Bellis. “History of Roads.” N.d.
[3] Bellis. “History of Roads.” N.d.
[4] Weingroff. “The Battle of Its Life.” 2006.
[5] Dilworth. The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy. 2005.
[6] Weingroff. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” 1996.
[7] Weingroff. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” 1996.
[8] Weingroff. “THE GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957.” 2000.
Bibliography
Bellis, Mary. “History of Roads.” about.com. n.d.
Foster, Mark. “Roads” Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. 1998.
Dilworth, Richardson. The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy. Harvard University Press. London. 2005
Weingroff, Richard. “Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System.” FHWA. Summer 1996. Weingroff, Richard. “The Battle of
Its Life.” FHWA. May-June 2006.
Weingroff, Richard. “THE GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: The Interstate System and Urban Problems, 1939-1957.” FHWA. Sep-Oct 2000.