Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Eisenhower Interstate System... did you know it owed a lot, to his time in the Army during the 1919 evaluation of military vehicles?


From humble beginnings to:


His report on the motorcycles, trucks, trailers, and tires are here https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/convoy.cfm

Dwight D. Eisenhower, contrary to popular belief, did not build the federal highway system for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of an atomic war. But there was one key military endeavor that did influence Eisenhower's support for giant, smoothly paved roads. In 1919, he traveled with the military in a motor convoy across the country, from D.C. to San Francisco.

Eisenhower and a colleague joined the convoy at the last minute, basically because they thought it would be exciting. And the trip did immerse the military men in a cross-section of American life, at concerts, big city dances, chicken dinners, rodeos, barbecues, and ranch lunches.

One of the purposes of the 1919 convoy was to support this movement: a Zero Milestone marker would designate the spot from which it set off, in D.C.'s Lafayette Square. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/08/mvpa-2015-bankhead-highway-bh15-convoy.html

From 1956, the Eisenhower Interstate System has been known as the Greatest Public Works Project in History.

Small notes of interest :
In 1917, the Army ran a convoy from Toledo to Baltimore
In 1922, the Bureau of Public Roads requested the help of the U.S. Army, who produced the "Pershing Map," first map of roads of prime importance in event of war.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/interstate.cfm
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-1919-dwight-d-eisenhower-suffered-through-historys-worst-cross-country-road-trip



http://mashable.com/2015/10/02/eisenhower-road-trip/#EPlBKqvBZkqz

2 comments:

  1. I thought it was Hitlers Autobahn that inspired the US interstates?
    seeing as to how they didnt build them till after the war.

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    Replies
    1. I'm not contradicting that... I'm pointing out that way back in 1919 Ike went cross county on terrible roads, and learned 1st hand what was needed for roads in the USA, and then about 40 years later was credited with the system of interstates. See?

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