The House Committee on Agriculture votes to insert a provision appropriating $10,000 for an office within the Department of Agriculture to conduct a road inquiry.

OPR, presently using offices on the fourth floor of the Agriculture Department's main building, leases a new four-story building at 237 14th Street, SW., built in accordance with its plans, for $2,000 a year.
 

PRA's Highways for National Defense discloses an urgent need for improvement or construction of 1,500 miles of roads in military reservations and 2,830 miles of access roads to serve 192 military establishments. In requesting the report on June 21, 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt had asked PRA to focus on "the strength of bridges, the width of strategic roads, adequacy of ingress and egress from urban centers, and the servicing of existing and proposed Army, Navy, and Air bases."

The last contract for construction of the War Department Building [Pentagon] Road Network is completed. The PRA/BPR had awarded 47 contracts for the project, the first on November 28, 1941.

The Blatnik Committee, House of Representatives, opens a hearing on right-of-way acquisition in MA. The first witness, Arthur Schoenhaut of the General Accounting Office, refers to the vulnerability of the right-of-way transaction to improper conduct and says BRP lacks sufficient personnel to administer the right-of-way program properly and to protect Federal interests.

Secretary of Transportation Alan Boyd reviews hundreds of entries in a competition to design an insignia for the new USDOT. The winning entry was designed by James M. Ashworth, an FAA employee, and his family-they received a $500 savings bond. The family said that using the triskelion (a symbol of progress in heraldry) in the emblem symbolizes continual progress in development of safe, rapid, and economical transportation. Ground, air, and water transportation are depicted in the three branches of the triskelion, and the counterclockwise motion stresses USDOT efforts to reduce travel time.

The United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Less Developed Areas opens in Geneva, Switzerland, February 3-20. One of the participants is Administrator Rex Whitton, who delivers a paper on "Highway Planning and Programming in the Economy." He summarizes the observations of BPR engineers who have seen how the improved roads they helped build in five countries (Jordan, Mexico, The Philippines, Turkey, and Uganda) expedite social, political, and economic growth.

"Transportation systems for persons and goods determine to a large extent the physical development, functioning, and attractiveness of an area."
Rex Whitton
Federal Highway Administrator
February 3, 1963

Director Martin Dodge delivers a speech to a good roads convention in Concord, NH, noting that while the cost of transportation over roads in this country is 25 cents a ton per mile, the cost is only 8 cents in France, owing to the fine condition of its roads.

Wesley M. Baker of the Construction and Maintenance Division presents the first FHWA "show-and-tell" on the metric system during the "Materials Course for Area Engineers." Legislation on the metric system is pending in Congress.

Administrator Thomas Larson selects John C. Fegan as FHWA's Bicycle Program Manager. Fegan has been with FHWA since 1972 and had been responsible for research on bicycle and pedestrian safety since 1974.

BPR conducts a slab stress test on the Camp Humphreys concrete road to Alexandria, VA, with a loaded truck (5,000 pounds front, 17,000 pounds rear axle).

Bertram D. Tallamy takes office as the second Federal Highway Administrator (and first confirmed by the Senate).

The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act authorizes the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project for upgrading Amtrak's main line to accommodate high-speed rail service between Washington, DC, and Boston, MA, via New York City. The project is managed by the FRA, but about 30 FHWA engineers, under David S. Gedney, provide the engineering expertise.

General E. G. Harrison of Asbury Park, NJ, ORI's first object lesson road builder, dies in Washington, DC, at the age of 73. He built the first object lesson road in 1897 and continued the work, in nearly every State east of the Rocky Mountains, until the end.

In Boston, MA, at the opening of ARBA's 14th Annual Convention, Director Logan Page reads a paper on "Policy and Program of Government in Road Construction under the New Federal Aid Law," then is surprised by protracted questioning on OPR's requirement that patented pavements may be used on Federal-aid projects only if they are selected competitively at the same or less cost than equally suitable unpatented articles or methods.

"Let me again emphasize more than anything else that cooperation is the governing principle in this federal aid road work and that we should approach the subject, not from different angles, but from the same angle . . . Neither should be arbitrary, but should work together for the common interest, and I am happy in the belief that this is being done."
Logan Page
Director, OPRRE
February 6, 1917

With AASHO concerned about restrictions in the transport of highway materials amid World War I transport shortages, Director General of Railroads William G. McAdoo says, "The United States Railroad Administration will cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture by transporting materials for construction of national highways designated by it as a military or economic necessity, when the equipment is . . . not needed to move supplies for the army, navy, shipping board, or other governmental activities."

OPR issues Circular No. 97 on "Coke-Oven Tars of the United States" by OPR Chemist Prevost Hubbard. He prepared the circular because of the rapidly increasing use of refined coal tar in road work and the immense quantity that will become available through installation of by-product coke ovens.

D. H. Winslow, OPR's Senior Highway Engineer, delivers a series of lectures to the Third North Carolina Road Institute at the University of North Carolina. The lectures discuss maintenance, with particular reference to the patrol system, under which citizens are assigned to keep their eye on specified stretches of road near their home or farm.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administers the oath of office to Elizabeth Hanford Dole, who becomes the first woman to serve as US Secretary of Transportation.

OPR assigns R. E. Toms to help the Memphis-to-Bristol Highway Commission in Tennessee with surveys, general plans, and administration. The commission guarantees Toms' expenses under OPR's customary rules. He will organize surveys under county supervision and draw up general plans for uniform methods of construction for the entire road.

The first 5-day pilot workshop is underway in Olympia, WA, on seismic design of highway bridges. The workshop consists of intensified training in structural dynamics, seismology, seismic design methodologies, retrofitting concepts, and advanced topics. The course, with Bill Allen of FHWA's Washington Division Office serving as coordinator, reflects heightened interest in seismic design during the 1970's following the San Fernando Earthquake (February 9, 1971), in California.

With one of the pens President Dwight D. Eisenhower used to sign the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, President Bill Clinton signs the Telecommunications Act Conference Report. The pen was provided by one of the authors of the 1956 Act, former Senator Albert Gore, Sr., whose son, Vice President Al Gore, was one of the chief backers of the Telecommunications Act.

"The Interstate Highway Act literally brought Americans closer together. We were connected city to city, town to town, family to family, as we had never been before. That law did more to bring Americas together than any other law this century, and that same spirit of connection and communication is the driving force behind the Telecommunications Act of 1956."
President Bill Clinton
February 8, 1996

At the 18th Annual Convention of ARBA at the Coliseum in Chicago, IL, Chief Thomas MacDonald discusses "Our National Highway Problems." He says, "Let us not hope or expect ever to find the final solution for all highway problems, for they will continue on to the end of the chapter, yet they will not be the same; or, at least, if fundamentally the same, will appear in different guises and with many modifications."

"Let it be clearly understood that the engineering and the economics cannot be separated, and that that engineering is best which does not design against every possible failure at an impossible cost, but which limits the number of failures to a low per cent."
Thomas H. MacDonald
Chief, BPR
February 9, 1921

Secretary of Agriculture W. M. Jardine signs a cooperative agreement, developed by NPS Director Stephen Mather and Chief Thomas MacDonald, for the engineering and construction of roads by BPR in National Parks on a reimbursable basis. Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work signed it on January 22, 1926.

Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges administers the oath of office to Federal Highway Administrator Rex Whitton.

Today is the official grand opening of the Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center (HITEC), a service center and clearinghouse for evaluating innovative highway technologies. Sponsored by FHWA and the Civil Engineering Research Foundation, HITEC has been described by Deputy Administrator Jane Garvey as "the key to restarting the engine of innovation."

President Franklin Roosevelt approves the Alaska Highway project to furnish a supply route linking the airfields established by Canada and the U.S. and to provide an overland route to Alaska. During 1942, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including several units of African-American troops, and contractors under PRA open a pioneer route. (See November 20, 1942.) In 1943, PRA shifted much of the highway onto a better permanent alignment and built it to a higher standard. In September 1943, at the peak of operations, 1,850 PRA employees and 14,100 civilian employees of 81 contractors were at work.

To stimulate the economy and relieve unemployment, President Gerald Ford releases $2 billion in Federal-aid highway funds, which had been impounded by various Administrations, to combat inflationary trends and for other economic reasons. By May, more than half the funds were obligated.

The American Road Makers Association, forerunner of ARTBA, is founded at the Cadillac Hotel in New York City. Michigan's Horatio S. "Good Roads" Earle and William S. Crandall of New York had formulated the idea during a meeting on December 8, 1901. Director Martin Dodge promptly endorsed the idea. However, of the 200 people invited to participate, only 25 answered and only 4 attend the organizational meeting (16 sent proxies). Earle chose the association's name because the acronym "ARM" meant that the association "will never lower its arm until its purpose, 'The Capital Connecting Government Highway' is attained, connecting every state capital with every other state capital, and every capital with the United States Capital-Washington."

Senior Highway Engineer J. T. Voshell of OPR and Iowa State Highway Engineer Thomas H. MacDonald participate in the First Annual Conference on Concrete Road Building, held in Chicago, IL.

The Southeastern Association of State Highway Officials holds its first annual meeting in Asheville, NC. PRA participants include B. I. Segall ("Metropolitan Atlanta Master Traffic Plan Study") and Wilbur B. King ("Roadside Development").

Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis administers the oath of office to Federal Highway Administrator Ray A. Barnhart, who will serve longer than any "Administrator" (through December 31, 1987).

During the visit of the Southern Railway Good Roads Train to Raleigh, NC, a statewide road convention takes place, with speeches by Director Martin Dodge yesterday and, today, J. W. Abbott of OPRI's Western Division and M. O. Eldridge, whose speech on "The Highways of the World" features stereopticon views of the Appian Way in Italy and the roads of Europe and Egypt. The crowning event of the day is the organization of the North Carolina Good Roads Association.

"If we can put the road system of America where the road system of France is to-day, the annual saving to the people of the United States won't be much less than enough to pay the national debt."
J. W. Abbott
Special Agent, Western Division, OPRI
February 13, 1902

In Detroit, MI, during ARMA's First Annual Convention, Director Martin Dodge delivers a speech in favor of the Brownlow bill (see December 1, 1902), while OPRI's M. O. Eldridge delivers his illustrated lecture on "The Highways of the World."

FHWA initiates TOPICS (Traffic Operations Program to Increase Capacity and Safety) in pilot form. TOPICS projects are eligible for funding under regular, apportioned categories. (See August 23, 1968.)

In response to public concern following the collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967, the USDOT announces a comprehensive program to analyze the safety of over 703,000 highway and railroad bridges. President Lyndon Johnson's Task Force on Bridge Safety, headed by Administrator Lowell Bridwell, will conduct the survey in cooperation with the State highway agencies, AASHO, the Association of American Railroads, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "We are giving first priority," Bridwell says, "to those bridges built before 1935 which are carrying highway traffic and those which pass over deep ravines or water where a collapse might result in catastrophic loss of life and property."

Members of the Arlington County Board, VA, protest construction of I-66 by presenting an exhibit, entitled "Felled Oak," to Deputy Administrator Karl Bowers. The exhibit includes a portion of an oak tree planted in 1888 and labeled "Victim of I-66."

In the White House Oval Office, President Bill Clinton looks on as former Federal Highway Administrator Rodney E. Slater (1993-1997) takes the oath of office as the 13th Secretary of Transportation. In announcing the selection on December 20, 1996, President Clinton said, "He has built bridges both of steel and goodwill to bring people closer together." Slater becomes the second FHWA Administrator to serve as Secretary (John A. Volpe, Administrator in 1956-1957, became Secretary in 1969 and served through 1972).

At the National Legislative Convention in Washington, DC, Director Logan Page speaks on "The Comparative Effect of Motor and Horse-Drawn Vehicles on Roads."

"Much unwise legislation is being indulged in both in relation to speed and taxation of the motor car, which will have to be repealed or ignored later on. Legislation now against a rich man's toy may later on be against a poor man's economy."
Logan Page
OPR Director
February 15, 1910

President Franklin D. Roosevelt tells reporters he likes a proposal by Senator Robert J. Bulkley of Ohio that the Federal Government set up a public corporation to build a self-sustaining, transcontinental system of toll superhighways as a national defense and pump-priming measure.

Administrator Lowell Bridwell announces a new motor vehicle safety standard requiring protective head restraints on all passenger cars manufactured after December 31, 1968. The standard is designed to reduce the frequency and severity of "whiplash" neck injuries.

OPR establishes a Division of Road Maintenance under E. W. James to meet growing demands for advice after local officials failed to provide for maintenance of roads built as a result of a greatly increased number of bond issues since 1910.

OPR establishes a Division of National Park and Forest Roads, under T. Warren Allen, to take charge of certain road work in National Parks and Forests.

At a White House reception honoring the Citizens Advisory Committee on Recreation and Natural Beauty, Secretary of Transportation Alan Boyd announces an annual awards competition to recognize public agencies and private groups for protecting, restoring, and enhancing highway beauty. The goal is to encourage "the battle against highway uglification," he says. However, the highlight of the reception occurs when the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, presents citations recognizing the best examples of highway beautification by the States.

FHWA awards $5.4 million to the New York State DOT to begin repair of the Brooklyn Bridge, the first Federal-aid funding for the historic structure.
 

B. M. Joyce of Western Highways Builder dispatches a report on his interview with Chief Thomas MacDonald about his western tour. MacDonald is quoted as saying, "To provide roads within the national parks and within the forests is a duty the Federal government must hasten, because the ever-increasing improved roads of the State of California and of adjoining States are going to make it possible for more and more people to get there."

Secretary of Agriculture E. T. Meridith transmits BPR's report to the California Highway Commission classifying pavement on 1,262 miles of California's road system. (Field studies, began July 8, 1920, under the direction of Dr. L. I. Hewes and T. Warren Allen, involved taking 7,500 photos.) In a foreword, Chief Thomas MacDonald notes, "The California study is the most comprehensive study of results obtained through the development of a State highway system that has yet been undertaken."

In Little Rock, AR, FHWA's David S. Gendell, Ali F. Sevin, and Manuel A. Marks, Jr., open a 4-day course on urban transportation planning for local, State, and FHWA officials. The course familiarizes attendees with the key elements of the comprehensive, cooperative, continuing transportation planning process. (See October 23, 1962.)

Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner transmits FHWA's report to Congress on the National Scenic Byways Study. He cites Blue Highways author William Least Heat Moon's comment that, "The travelers are ready to go, let the journey begin." The Secretary adds, "In that spirit, we look forward to working with the Congress and with the many government agencies and private groups that support the scenic byways initiative."

At a national good roads convention in Chicago, IL, Director Martin Dodge says the burden of improving highways should rest on all the people, not on the agriculturist alone. He favors State and national aid.

OPR's M. O. Eldridge lectures on "Sand Clay Roads" at the West Virginia Road School at West Virginia University. In previous days, he had lectured on uniform culvert and bridge plans, model roads and road models, and bituminous binders. The course is free and participants were assured that the total expense of the course, not counting railroad fare, need not exceed $12.00.

BPR's Herbert Fairbank, Chief of the Division of Information, addresses a meeting on "Roads to Prosperity" sponsored by The Civic Forum of the Town Hall, in New York City.

"We must find the way to keep our efficient railroads . . . while we continue to build up the supplementary service of our highways, for in the years ahead we shall need them both as our Roads to Prosperity."
Herbert Fairbank
Chief, Division of Information, BPR
February 21, 1931

PRA's Worth Ross is authorized to proceed to Colombia, South America, to give technical advice and help concerning highway construction. President Franklin Roosevelt approved the detail under the provisions of an Act approved May 25, 1938. Ross arrives March 7 and assists in developing projects for a national highway.

First Lady Michelle Obama visits DOT Headquarters, the 5th agency she visits to thank government employees for their public service. Speaking in the West Atrium, she says, "Just know that we value you, America values you, and together we can get this country moving again."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends Congress a report titled "A 10-Year National Highway Program." The report, by a presidential committee headed by General Lucius Clay, recommends creation of a Federal Highway Corporation to finance a $101-billion program, including $25 billion for the Interstate System. To pay for the Interstate System, the corporation would issue $20 billion in long-term bonds, to be repaid over 32 years from the existing 2-cent Federal motor-fuel tax. The President calls the plan "A solid foundation for a sound program." However, it fails in Congress.

A meeting of State highway testing engineers and chemists gets underway at BPR headquarters, under auspices of AASHO's Tests and Investigations Committee, to formulate standard methods for testing road materials and to establish safe test limits. Professor T. R. Agg of the Iowa Highway Commission acts as chairman of the conference, which includes BPR's B. A. Anderson (chemist), L. G. Carmick (assistant chemist), A. T. Goldbeck (engineer of tests), F. H. Jackson (senior assistant testing engineer), Henry M. Milburn (chemist), and E. B. Smith (senior assistant testing engineer).

OPR's James T. Voshell is a lecturer at the winter course in highway engineering, Ohio State University. His subjects are "Earth Roads," "Road Materials-Gravel and Broken Stone," and "Binders and Fillers for Gravel, Macadam, and Brick Paved Roads."

Dr. Homer T. Rosenberger, Chief of BPR's Training Branch, completes his tour, begun December 1, 1963, of six African countries- Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Tunisia. His book, Letters from Africa, describes the people, their culture, and the current economic and political scene.

Despite the onset of rain, President Jimmy Carter, escorted by Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams, addresses USDOT personnel in the courtyard of the USDOT Headquarters. "I want to be sure that Brock Adams, who has my total confidence, is able to bring together all of you in an approach that is in itself cohesive and understandable, where there are no sacred fiefdoms within the Transportation Department."

BPR Chemical Engineer Prevost Hubbard addresses ARBA's Annual Convention on "Efficiency of Bituminous Surfaces and Pavements Under Motor Truck Traffic" and Acting Director P. St. J. Wilson speaks on "Operation of BPR Under Federal Aid Road Act."

"With the mighty stimulus of a blending of public spirit and public need, we are on the threshold of the greatest road building era the world has ever known . . . The underlying principle . . . is cooperation and if we who represent the Federal Government and those who represent the State governments continue to deal with each other in accordance with that fundamental principle, I feel sure that we shall have no troubles that are not easily capable of solution."
P. St. J. Wilson
Chief Engineer and Acting Director, BPR
February 25, 1919

The First Annual Convention of the Association of Highway Officials of the North Atlantic States convenes in Atlantic City, NJ. The scheduled speaker, Chief Thomas MacDonald, is unable to attend, but E. W. James, BPR's Chief, Division of Design, speaks on "Grades and Alignment of Federal Aid Highways."

"There are some matters which are subject to standardization where the greatest variety of practice now exists. Our pride should be not so much in a persistent adherence to our own ideas in such details, but rather our pride should be in promoting the science of highway engineering and placing our specialty in the engineering field on the same high plane of scientific attainment that has been reached by some other branches of the profession."
E. W. James
Chief, Division of Design, BPR
February 25, 1925

In a 2-hour ceremony, the Terraba River Bridge officially opens near Palmar, Costa Rica, on the Inter-American Highway. The U.S. paid two-thirds of the cost of the bridge and the adjacent 56 miles of road through some of the roughest terrain on the highway. The 1,120-foot long bridge consists of four 90-foot, steel beam spans on the north and three 250-foot, through-steel trusses on the south. With more than 3,000 people in attendance, the official opening by President Mario Echandi Jimenez is followed by speeches by the assembled dignitaries, including BPR's Assistant Commissioner for Operations, Paul F. Royster.

Today and tomorrow, during the Fourth Annual Good Roads School at the University of Idaho, Dr. L. I. Hewes of OPRRE is the principal instructor. He lectures on "The Highway as an Investment" and "Maintenance Organization," describes the Agency's 1915 and 1916 experiments, and presents an illustrated lecture on "Road Improvement."

BPR transmits a report to Congress on "The Federal Role in Highway Safety," concluding with a description of an adequate program and recommendations for official action.

In a steady rain, demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco begins, ending 30 years of controversy over the elevated roadway, widely described as an "eyesore." The freeway had been damaged by the Loma Prieta Earthquake. (See October 17, 1989.) "This is a good day for a rainfall . . . and it's a great day to take down a freeway," Mayor Art Agnos says.

"A generation ago, people believed that they had to make a choice between our city's beauty and our city's needs. This generation says: `We won't buy that choice.'"
The Honorable Art Agnos
Mayor of San Francisco
February 27, 1991

The Post Office Appropriation Act, signed by President Woodrow Wilson today, amends the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 in an attempt to correct defects that had hampered the success of the program. It broadens the definition of "rural post road," increases the maximum amount of Federal funding to $20,000 per mile, and increases funding. In addition, the Act authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to distribute World War I equipment, through BPR, to the States for road improvement.

President John F. Kennedy's Special Message to Congress warns that, "Our Federal Pay-As-You-Go Highway Program" is "in peril." Citing "the vital contribution this [Interstate] program makes to our security, our safety, and our economic growth," he discusses the need for additional funds to complete the program on schedule. His message leads to the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1961. (See June 29, 1961.)

Testimony begins before the House Roads Committee on the legislation that would approve the National System of Interstate Highways (concludes May 3). Commissioner Thomas MacDonald testifies that, unlike wartime legislation, the proposal "is not temporary, but will mark the progress of road construction for the next quarter of a century." Only one State (Colorado) testifies in opposition to what is still known as the Interregional System.

Public Roads carries an article by BPR's A. B. Fletcher comparing highways in the U.S. and England, where he was detailed last spring. "I saw no road on my long auto journey so rough as are most of our rural roads, but I saw hardly any so smooth as the best of the roads in the United States built by the State highway departments with the Federal-Aid stimulant."

The Board of Consultants on secondary road problems holds its first meeting with PRA in Washington, DC, to discuss ways of making the program effective. The Board is active through 1954. A new Board of County Engineers is appointed in 1958.

National Geographic publishes an article by Robert Paul Jordan on "Our Growing Interstate Highway System."

"Americans are living in the midst of a miracle. A giant nationwide engineering project--the Interstate Highway System--is altering and circumventing geography on an unprecedented scale. Yet an individual can no more grasp the scope and magnitude of the entire project than an ant can comprehend New York City."
Robert Paul Jordan
"Our Growing Interstate Highway System." National Geographic,
February 1968

The Pavement Branch under Leon Noel releases the first issue of the Pavement Newsletter. The introductory note by David K. Phillips, Director of the Office of Engineering, says the newsletter was conceived "on the premise that a great deal of information is 'out there' on pavements-information that has value to all of us . . but information that can only realize its full value if it is disseminated widely." The first issue is put together by Frank Botelho and Richard Lemieux.