interstate runnways?

this group never ceases to amaze me. THANKS GUYS!

In the cold war days and the start of the interstate system, the plan was to
use these areas as a remote deployment site for the military aircraft in the
event of an attack.

zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

c

Ronald Gardner opined

In the cold war days and the start of the interstate system, the plan was to
use these areas as a remote deployment site for the military aircraft in the
event of an attack.

And built into every under/overpass was to be a fallout shelter. As far as I
know, only a demo shelter was evre built.

Ike sold the Interstate Highways as a national defence thing.

zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

c



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

"Ash Wyllie" wrote in message

Ike sold the Interstate Highways as a national defence thing.

As was right. One thing learned VERY quickly during the mobilization for
WWII was the inefficiency of the logistical/distribution system in the US on
a national scale. Railroads alone, while they did a marvelous job, just
couldn't keep up. The country up to then was a huge group of local/regional
units. The Interstate system was conceived and built for
commercial/military trucking and transport. Any other benefit, like
personal travel, was ancillary.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message ...

"Ash Wyllie" wrote in message

Ike sold the Interstate Highways as a national defence thing.

As was right. One thing learned VERY quickly during the mobilization for WWII was the inefficiency of the
logistical/distribution system in the US on a national scale. Railroads alone, while they did a marvelous job, just
couldn't keep up. The country up to then was a huge group of local/regional units. The Interstate system was
conceived and built for commercial/military trucking and transport. Any other benefit, like personal travel, was
ancillary.



And the legends live on....

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 20:51:34 GMT, zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

I have heard something similar. Recall that the interstates were sold
to Congress in the 1950s as the National Defense Highway system. I
believe it was argued that they could be used to disperse the SAC
fleet in time of war. I have no reference to this; it's just something
I recall.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

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zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

c
Go to Australia and drive from Adelaide to Perth, and you will find 3
emergency runnways marked on highway 1 for the Royal Flying Doctor to
use. They are a few hundred miles apart between Ceduna and Norseman.

In article , zaphod writes:
OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?


This gets debated fairly often, concensus is that it is an urban legend,
atleast in the States.

A repeating vector for this UL is provided by a guy from Harvard named
John Stilgoe, a "professor of ordinary things around us". He has several
times stated that not only are they designed for landings, but that SAC
often practices B-52 landings on Interstates - a notion richly poo-pooed
by folks who are in the know regarding all things SAC and B-52
.. He has stated this in an article in the "Smithsonian" a few years back,
and also on an interview done by National Publice Radio.

The date of the NPR show was July 2 1998. It was available in Real Audio format
at www.npr.org, the segment titled "Outside Magic", don't know if it's
still there.

wrote:
A repeating vector for this UL is provided by a guy from Harvard named
John Stilgoe, a "professor of ordinary things around us". He has several
times stated that not only are they designed for landings, but that SAC
often practices B-52 landings on Interstates - a notion richly poo-pooed
by folks who are in the know regarding all things SAC and B-52

I have yet to see a segment of an interstate highway that is wide enough
for the outriggers of a B-52.

"john smith" wrote

I have yet to see a segment of an interstate highway that is wide enough
for the outriggers of a B-52.

You must have been asleep in class, on that day.

The outriggers ride on the highway, themselves. They have to put turf tires
on the mains, for use in the medians.

g
--
Jim in NC