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One of the universal truths is that road construction is dependent on the materials at hand. At one time or another, almost every material common to an area has been tried by road builders. Roads of sand and clay are an example.
Sand-clay road construction was one of the common methods...
The Rambler wrote the following in 1989 after actually getting out of the office, walking Pennsylvania Avenue, and taking notes along the way. The Rambler saw no need for an...
The Rambler has long followed a simple rule: if you have to go outside to write about it, don't write about it. The Rambler violated that rule only once, in June 1989, and this website has decided to blow the whistle on him...
Mardis Gras? Fats Domino? Gris-gris?
The Rambler couldn't care less. As far as The Rambler is concerned, the only point about New Orleans is its transportation history. So anyone looking for a travel guide to the best bars in New Orleans-look elsewhere!
Let's get something straight: Baltimore was not the terminus of the National Road! The initial road went from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia). It was eventually extended west to Vandalia, Illinois. It didn't go east to Baltimore.
The Rambler wishes to...
All forms of transportation are risky. Stagecoaching was no exception. The condition of the roads-and the drivers-ensured that. Two famous 19th century writers left accounts of their own perils on travels around the United States.
Charles Dickens, the most famous British...
Ever mindful that history is most interesting when it is helpful, the Rambler thought it might be worth mentioning that the Federal Government's first road aid was accomplished through innovative financing.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 opened the Northwest...
In good times and bad, the Rambler can safely say State and local governments never have enough money for their highway needs. It has always been so. In recent years, the Federal Highway Administration has spearheaded "innovative financing" techniques that can help meet needs. There's even a...
South Carolina's section of I-85 is 106 miles long, part of a route from Montgomery, Alabama, to Petersburg, Virginia. The first contract on I-85 in the State was awarded September 21, 1956, for a bridge over the Broad River in Cherokee County at a cost of $280,665. This was also the first...
In announcing an America the Beautiful initiative in January 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (D) said:
I want to make sure that the America we see from these major highways is a beautiful America.
The cornerstone of the initiative would be the Highway...