With so many roads to travel on throughout Tennessee, it’s rare that one would give much thought to what engineering marvels they actually are. Tennessee’s geography, topography, water and weather all vary from region to region, creating unique challenges to solve as roads are built and maintained.

In this episode of Highway See, Chris ties all these puzzle pieces together to tell the story of how Tennessee’s roadway system came to be despite unique environmental factors:

• The seven different topographical regions of Tennessee
• The geotechnical expertise needed for new construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and retaining walls
• The challenges of building roads in West Tennessee
• How limestone in the central basin of Middle Tennessee impacts roads
• East Tennessee’s challenging history of road construction
• The tunnels of Tennessee
• Why TDOT must work with nature and not against it
• The TVA Act and the rise of dam construction
• The origins of pothole formation
• How Tennessee’s rapidly changing weather impacts transportation

Links Referenced:

• Sequatchie Valley: https://sequatchievalleyscenicbyway.com/
• Tennessee Valley: https://www.loc.gov/item/2008628288/
• seven physiographic zones: https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/geologic-zones/
• Harry: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2019/07/16/east-tennessee-rockslides-expert-department-of-transportation-harry-moore/1706574001/
• highwaysee.com: https://highwaysee.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roads have been an instrumental part of human history for thousands of years. From the first paved Roman roads that crisscrossed Europe, to the modern-day interstate, the history of the road is crucial to our own stories. That is certainly the case for Tennessee as we take a deep dive into the history of our state’s roadways. From the earliest wagon roads that connected the frontier's newest towns, to the essential highways of today upon which Tennessee’s infrastructure, economy, and transportation system depend.

For this episode of Highway See, we’re going to cover the history of our roads from covered wagons and stagecoach to the modern interstate system. Tune in as Chris interviews a wide spectrum of Tennesseans whose insight and historical knowledge pave the way for our journey!

Show Notes

In this episode, host Chris Hill explains the factors of how Tennessee roads came to be.

• The history of Tennessee’s roads
• Early roadways and the “Old Stage Road”
• The Amis Family and their famous road house where Andrew Jackson overnighted
• William Blount and the earliest known piece of mail from the Southwest territory
• Photos of macadam road construction in Rogersville
• Important early roads and the formation of the Tennessee Department of Transportation
• Woodrow Wilson and the “Federal Aid Road Act”
• Dwight D. Eisenhower advancement of the interstate system
• The history of Tennessee’s interstates
• The great American roadtrip as shared by Cecil Cook

Links:

• highwaysee.com: https://highwaysee.com
• Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance: http://tninfrastructure.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bridges are everyday parts of our lives that we often take for granted, but when one goes down, we notice their significant impact. That is where this episode of Highway See begins. On May 11, 2021, a routine inspection of the Hernando de Soto Bridge, which spans the mighty Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, revealed a fracture in an integral part of the bridge’s construction. All traffic on the bridge, and below the bridge, was brought to an immediate halt. Both interstate I-40 and the Mississippi River, crucial veins in commerce and economic traffic, were severed. For this riveting episode of Highway See we take the deep dive into the drama of the “Memphis Bridge.”

From the discovery of the fracture, to the phenomenal team of experts who solved the issue of the repair, to the vastly successful reopening of the bridge, we cover it all. Tune into this episode for the whole story!

On this Special Episode, host Chris Hill guides us through the crucial tale:

• The Discovery of the Fracture on May 11, 2021
• The joint ownership of the I-40 bridge by Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) and Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
• Former TDOT Commissioner Clay Bright, TDOT Structures and the Impact of the Bridge Closure
• An Expert Team Gets to Work
• The Bridge from Fracture to Repair: The Three Phases
• The Resounding Successes of the Repair
• The Way We Think about Bridges in the Future

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Long before the modern convenience of many miles of well maintained asphalt roads, a “road” was a different thing altogether. So far on Highway See we’ve covered a big picture of the history of Tennessee’s road system. With that in mind, now it is time to start diving into the answers to one crucial question. How did these roads come about? On this episode we’re going to step back into time to get a glimpse, through some invigorating historical documents and commentary, of the earliest days of road building and the communities involved across the state of Tennessee.

In this episode host Chris Hill guides us through these fascinating early days of roads:

• George Webb Reveals Some Fascinating Documents
• The First Roads Both Near and Far
• The History of Tennessee’s First Roads: The Avery Trace and The Walton Road
• The Rise of the Macadam Road
• The Beginnings of Tennessee’s Road Administrators
• The Rise of the Automobile
• The Memphis to Bristol Highway
• The State Highway Department and Commission
• George’s Great American Road Trip

Links

• Learn more about this episode at: https://highwaysee.com
• An Act to Cut and Clear a Waggon Road to the Settlements on the Cumberland River in the Mero District: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/tfd/id/531/
• MacAdamized Roads: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Loudon-McAdam
• Tennessee’s First State Road: https://knoxfocus.com/archives/tennessees-first-state-road/
• Tennessee Virtual Archive Memphis to Bristol Highway:https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll23/id/53/rec/1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• The evolution of roads: from Native people’s footpaths and wildlife’s buffalo traces, to wagon trails and eventually paved interstate highways.
• The evolution of roadbuilding: from “road-making bees” enlisting rural men and women with pick axes to a more industrial and bureaucratic system complete with federal environmental standards.
• Economic drivers for roadbuilding, including agricultural transport that demanded farm to port access.
• President Eisenhower's Federal Highway Act of 1956, which was the first major impetus to get federal money to states to build an interstate system across the country.
• How roads are paid for in Tennessee through a “pay as you go” system of taxes.

• Highway See: https://www.highwaysee.com/
• Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance: https://www.tninfrastructure.org/
• Now Hiring Tennessee: https://www.nowhiringtn.com/work

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.