General

Legacy ID

Ike's Grand Plan

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Grand Plan" is sometimes misunderstood as recommending construction of the Interstate System. His vision was far grander than that.

The President intended to present the Grand Plan to the Governor's Conference meeting at Bolton's Landing in Lake George,...

The Golden Fleece Why Was The $27 Billion Estimate So Wrong?

Former Senator William Proxmire (D-Wi.) periodically issued a "Golden Fleece" to "the biggest, most ridiculous or ironic examples of wasteful federal spending." On November 10, 1981, the Golden Fleece went to the Federal Highway Administration for "the worst record of civilian cost overruns in...

Bertram D. Tallamy

On October 12, 1956, the White House announced that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had chosen Bertram D. Tallamy to be the first Federal Highway Administrator under a law, approved by the President on August 3, that created the position to head the Bureau of Public Roads in the Department of...

AASHO Road Test

The design of pavements and bridges on the Interstate System largely followed the results of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) Road Test.

The test site in Ottawa, Illinois, was financed by the State highway agencies, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), the...

The Greatest Decade 1956-1966: Part 1 Essential to the National Interest

Celebrating the 50^TH Anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate System

by Richard F. Weingroff

The Greatest Public Works Project in History produced the greatest decade in the history of highways. And problems to match....

Excerpt from First Progress Report of the Highway Cost Allocation Study

The following is an excerpt from First Progress Report of the Highway Cost Allocation Study (Letter from Secretary of Commerce, February 28, 1957, GPO, House Document No. 106, 85th Congress, 1st Session.