How The Uncommon Became The Commonplace
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

For very narrow results

When looking for a specific result

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Dates

to

Document Data
Library
People
Clear All
Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

How The Uncommon Became The Commonplace

Filetype[PDF-971.78 KB]


English
Details Related Documents You May Also Like

Details:

  • Creators:
    Weingroff, Richard F.
  • Corporate Creators:
    United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
  • Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Series:
    FHWA Highway History Website Articles
  • Resource Type:
    Web Document
  • Right Statement:
    Public Domain
  • Geographical Coverage:
    United States
  • Corporate Publisher:
    United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
  • Abstract:
    Highway innovations that seemed impossible at one time are now like any other technological marvels, where we wonder, "How did we ever get along without them?" In the late 19th century, when interest in good roads was growing after years of railroad dominance, the guiding principle was "we've always done it this way." The standard design guide was the "rule of thumb." And financing was often garnered by "working out the road tax"--the levy that farmers paid by donating a day or two each year to working on the roads in their community. The result, Professor Nathaniel S. Shaler of Harvard University pointed out in 1889, was that "the common roads are built and maintained in the most ignorant and inefficient manner." To use a late 20th century cliché, a lot of people had to think outside the box to create the modern transportation network that today's road users take for granted.
  • Content Notes:
    The original format of this document was an active HTML page(s) located under https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/history.cfm. The Federal Highway Administration converted the HTML page(s) into an Adobe® Acrobat® PDF file to preserve and support reuse of the information it contained. The intellectual content of this PDF is an authentic capture of the original HTML file. Hyperlinks and other functions of the HTML webpage may have been lost, and this version of the content may not fully work with screen reading software.
  • Format:
    PDF
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:

Supporting Files

  • No Additional Files
More +

Related Documents

You May Also Like

Checkout today's featured content at rosap.ntl.bts.gov