ABSTRACT
Modern highways link villages, towns, cities, mines, factories, farms, ports, markets, and, most importantly, people. This interconnected system not only enables the transportation of goods that sustain our basic physiological needs but also provides the means to satisfy the human desire to explore and discover. The highway system has become an integral part of our modern life. In the United States, the Federal government provides national policy and financial assistance to State and local governments to carry out the financing, planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the nation’s roadway systems through the “Federal-aid highway” program. Building a highway is a highly complicated task. Starting from the time when an idea is born, plans are drawn, right of way is purchased, asphalt is laid, to cars, buses, and trucks traveling on it, a significant amount of money has been spent, and a wide range of professionals and the public have debated and resolved their differences.
