| RELEASE: CONTACT: |
IMMEDIATE Sande Snead 804-225-4491 Sande.Snead@VDOT.Virginia.gov |
CO-0633 June 28, 2006 |
U.S. Interstate Highway System marks 50th anniversary June 29
Cross-country convoy to cross new Woodrow Wilson Bridge
RICHMOND – Tomorrow morning, a nearly 30-vehicle convoy will end its cross-country trek by traversing the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Maryland into Virginia and on to its final destination – The Reagan Center in Washington, D.C. Its purpose is to mark the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Interstate Highway System.
The convoy is a reverse of a trip taken in 1919 by young Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who helped staff a coast-to-coast convoy of 81 military vehicles to test whether the military was prepared to quickly mobilize the country in the event of war on U.S. soil. The arduous journey proved to him that the U.S. military was not. The 3,251-mile trip entailed 62 days of breakdowns, mud, bridgeless river-crossings, and rough roads. The Washington, D.C. to San Francisco convoy of heavy military vehicles averaged 58 miles a day at about six miles per hour.
June 29, 2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the date President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) organized the convoy to mark this momentous signing that changed the face of our nation and lead to one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken: the U.S. Interstate Highway System.
Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, a great-grandson of President Eisenhower and a communications major at Missouri Western State University, is chronicling the trip and sharing family recollections via a blog on AASHTO’s Web site at http://www.interstate50th.org/blogs.shtml
Virginia State Police will meet the convoy at 10 a.m. June 29 at the American Legion Bridge and escort the trucks, cars and other vehicles across the first new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which was dedicated on May 18. (The second new bridge will open in summer 2008). The Woodrow Wilson Bridge is the largest transportation project under construction in the country in terms of active contracts. Ironically, the original Woodrow Wilson Bridge was built in 1961 – during the Eisenhower administration.
For more information on the anniversary and convoy, go to www.interstate50th.org.
For information on Virginia’s interstate history, go to virginiainterstates.org
For a high-resolution image of the convoy crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, go tohttp://www.virginiadot.org/images/wwbEisenhowerConvoy.jpg
The convoy is a reverse of a trip taken in 1919 by young Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who helped staff a coast-to-coast convoy of 81 military vehicles to test whether the military was prepared to quickly mobilize the country in the event of war on U.S. soil. The arduous journey proved to him that the U.S. military was not. The 3,251-mile trip entailed 62 days of breakdowns, mud, bridgeless river-crossings, and rough roads. The Washington, D.C. to San Francisco convoy of heavy military vehicles averaged 58 miles a day at about six miles per hour.
June 29, 2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the date President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) organized the convoy to mark this momentous signing that changed the face of our nation and lead to one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken: the U.S. Interstate Highway System.
Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, a great-grandson of President Eisenhower and a communications major at Missouri Western State University, is chronicling the trip and sharing family recollections via a blog on AASHTO’s Web site at http://www.interstate50th.org/blogs.shtml
Virginia State Police will meet the convoy at 10 a.m. June 29 at the American Legion Bridge and escort the trucks, cars and other vehicles across the first new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which was dedicated on May 18. (The second new bridge will open in summer 2008). The Woodrow Wilson Bridge is the largest transportation project under construction in the country in terms of active contracts. Ironically, the original Woodrow Wilson Bridge was built in 1961 – during the Eisenhower administration.
For more information on the anniversary and convoy, go to www.interstate50th.org.
For information on Virginia’s interstate history, go to virginiainterstates.org
For a high-resolution image of the convoy crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, go tohttp://www.virginiadot.org/images/wwbEisenhowerConvoy.jpg
Page last modified: April 5, 2007
