Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 5, 1913 An assortment of motor trucks departed Washington, D.C., on a Monday morning for a four-day, round-trip “reliability run” that would take them through valleys and among mountains in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Washington Post Motor Truck Reliability Run, the first competition of its kind held in that region of the United States,... Continue Reading →
April 29, 1999 A field demonstration of new pavement maintenance materials and techniques took place at the Western Idaho Fairgrounds in Boise. This demonstration was part of an AASHTO-sponsored program, and those attending the event included transportation professionals from state, county, and municipal government agencies in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State. The genesis of both... Continue Reading →
April 28, 1958 Perley Albert Thomas, a transportation entrepreneur who had a significant impact on the streetcar and bus industries in the United States, died in Jacksonville, Florida. Thomas was born in 1874 and grew up on a farm in Ontario, Canada. With a background in machinery and woodworking, he moved to Detroit in 1901... Continue Reading →
April 27, 1904 The Lansden Company, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, was incorporated in New Jersey. The Newark-based company had been launched by John M. Lansden, along with William M. Little, and they focused mainly on such large vehicles as trucks. The Lansden Company soon established itself as a major force in the electric vehicles market... Continue Reading →
There has been a longtime need throughout the United States to adequately acknowledge and appreciate the tasks undertaken by workers in road construction and maintenance areas, and an equally vital need to better ensure the safety of those individuals when they are on the job. These priorities were emphasized as far back as the winter... Continue Reading →
High-visibility safety vests have long been a key part of the protective clothing worn by those who work in road construction areas. The yellow-and-orange safety vests certified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as Class 3, for example, are customarily worn by those working on highways where the speed limit is at least 50... Continue Reading →
Orange is a color that often stands out among the other hues, tints, and tones perceptive to the human eye. That color can be bright and unique. Unsurprisingly, orange has therefore long been a valued color for use within construction work zones and for other safety purposes along highways across the United States. An example of... Continue Reading →
The first National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) was held in April 2000. It took place about four months after a memorandum of agreement (MOU) to create such a week was jointly signed by Kenneth R. Wykle, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); Thomas R. Warne, president of AASHTO and executive director of the... Continue Reading →
To help commemorate this year’s Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, here is something about one of the more readily identifiable features of many of those road construction areas across the country: the humble but important traffic cone. Many people trace the origins of the traffic cone to 1914, which also happens to be the year... Continue Reading →
April 15, 1997 A groundbreaking ceremony was held to launch the reconstruction of Interstate 15 (I-15) in the vicinity of Salt Lake City. This project, which involved renovating 16.2 miles (26.1 kilometers) of I-15 between 600 North Street in Salt Lake City and 10600 South Street in the city of Sandy, became first major Interstate... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 